Chapter Text
Yor is going to find out. Is the first thing Twilight thinks, and he’s surprised at how terrifying that thought is.
He should be worried about his mission. He should be coming up with extraction plans, figuring out some way to break this off cleanly without compromising the entire rest of the organization. He should be figuring out how to salvage this whole situation without tipping off Yuri and the SSS.
Instead, mournfully, he thinks: She’s going to ask for a divorce.
Twilight’s mind races, grasping clumsily for any possible way to fix this . He runs through any option he can think of, deems it unviable, and loops back to review his plans again. There must be something, some detail, some angle he hadn’t considered…
In his arms Anya asks to be put down. Twilight does so in a haze, engrossed in his mental panic.
His mind is moving so fast Anya can’t keep up enough to understand any of it. At this point though, she’s used to having to ignore her Papa’s racing thoughts.
Anya bites her lip and rocks back and forth on her heels. Mama is still asleep, but she’s gonna wake up soon. And then she’s gonna know everything.
It’s a little less scary, knowing that no matter what she’s always going to have her Papa to protect her. The thought of Mama finding out and not wanting her anymore still makes Anya want to scream and cry and kick and bang her fists on the floor.
Also, Mama and Papa are going to figure out each other's secrets.
Even if they both still want her, they might not want each other. Even worse, if this goes bad -bad they could get in a fight and hurt or even kill each other.
Anya can’t let that happen!
From what Anya can understand of Papa’s thoughts, he still can’t figure out a way out without watching the video. Anya knows that if Papa can’t figure a way out, there’s probably nothing she could do either. Maybe she could figure something if there was another mind around to read, but she was certain no one else was around when she tried to check earlier.
Which means that Mama is going to find out. No way to avoid it. Mama and Papa finding out each other's secrets on their own would be a disaster.
But they’re not alone. Agent Anya is here!
Anya nods resolutely. It’s up to her to save the day!
Anya pushes herself up onto the couch and then climbs up to stand on the back of it.
“Anya!?” Papa startles out of his thinking and reaches out to grab her, but he’s too late.
Anya jumps to the other couch.
“Wake up Ma-!”
Anya belly flops hard , directly on top of Mama.
Landing on Mama is like landing on a pile of human shaped rocks; all of Anya’s breath is knocked out of her and she cuts off mid-word.
Mama’s eyes flutter open. “Anya?” She squints blearily.
“Hi...” Anya groans. “Mama has too many muscles…”
“Yor.” Papa smiles as he stands beside them. Papa tries to force a smile but it just looks strained and fake. Why did she do that?! Then he thinks, Anya if you’re listening I hope you know we’re both in big trouble now.
Anya looks up to give him an annoyed look. Papa quirks an eyebrow.
Does she… Do you have a plan?
Anya nods.
Papa’s too good of a liar to react, but Anya can feel his frustration. She hears him mentally going through a lot of other times she said something to cover for him.
Just… don’t say anything about me. Okay?
Anya grins and gives him a thumbs up. Papa starts thinking about his ulcer and Anya decides to stop listening.
Anya leans forward with a grin. “Mama, we’ve been kidnapped!” She announces cheerfully.
“What?!” Mama shrieks, jolting upright. Anya starts to fall back, but Mama’s arms raise up to catch her and pull her into a protective hug. For a moment all Anya can feel is safe and warm , and forgets she’s supposed to be fixing the problem. She’s tired, and scared about what’s gonna happen next, and she just wants to enjoy hugging her Mama.
Mama glances around the room, her mind racing the fastest Anya’s ever heard it. Mama thinks something about “possible enemies” and “no witnesses”, and jumps from thing to thing almost as fast as Papa does when he’s thinking about his mission.
“Loid, hold Anya.” Mama declares, shoving Anya into Papa’s arms.
“Wa-” Anya squawks a protest.
Mama flashes to the wall, so fast it looks like she teleported. Cracks race outward from the center of the wall like a spiderweb, crumbling and dropping debris all the way to the edges.
Mama steps back, shaking out her hand with a huff. There’s a clear imprint of her fist in the center of what used to be the wall.
“-ait.” Anya finishes. Her hair is swept back a bit; Mama moved so fast she made wind .
It’s stronger than I thought. Mama thinks to herself, teeth grit.
Papa steps toward her. “Yor, there’s something-”
“Get behind cover! I’m going to get us out of here.”
Papa opens his mouth to protest, but Mama is already winding up for another swing. Anya sees the exact moment he realizes he can’t do anything, and he dives behind one of the couches with her.
Boom, Boom, Boom , rings through the room each time Mama makes contact with the wall. Anya can’t see anything from where she is- cradled in Papa’s arms as he hunches over her- but she can feel the wind whipping around them. Anya tries to climb out of Papa’s grip to get a better look, but Papa easily snatches her back before she gets a chance to see anything .
The booms grow farther and farther apart, until they stop all together and the only sound left is heavy breathing. Anya clambars her way onto the couch and this time Papa lets her. She peeks her head over the couch and-
The entire middle bit of the wall is gone . Instead there’s a tunnel, all the way from floor to ceiling and wide enough for a person to walk through.
“So cool !” Anya can’t stop herself from whispering.
If she keeps going, Mama can probably just dig them out! There might be some questions, but that way her and Papa never have to swap secrets and-
-why is the wall growing back?
Right before their eyes, the tunnel starts filling in back towards them. It almost looks like sand falling into a bucket, but if you could only see the sand once it already touched the bottom, and if the sand somehow had the exact same pattern as the wall paper.
Mama takes a step back as the wall fills up all the way and smooths over. The random bits of stuff that flew around the room melt into the floor. Within seconds, the room is back to looking exactly like it did when they arrived.
“That’s what I was trying to tell you.” Papa winces. “This room, it's … it’s some bizarre sort of technology I’ve never seen or heard of.”
Mama clasps her hands over her mouth. “How do we get out?” She whispers. I can’t believe- I’ve doomed them! I really am such a terrible mother and wife!
Anya runs up and hugs her legs. “It’s okay Mama! We just need to watch the video!”
Mama blinks down at her. “Video?”
Something beeps in her pocket.
-=+=-
Yor pulls the weird little screen from her pocket. It lights up with text.
Welcome! Quick run down, you are not in danger but you cannot leave. I’m happy to wait while you prove that to yourself, if necessary. The only way to leave is for everyone in the room to watch the video on the screen, the video is about your life and will reveal all your secrets
The screen said more, but it was illegible after Yor instinctively shattered it in her hand. In a blind panic she hurls the broken thing across the room. It lodges itself into the wall, just above a pile of shattered glass and broken parts. Yor doesn’t notice, too caught up in her own thoughts.
Our secrets? They can’t find out I’m an assassin! If they do then- then, her heart stalls, just a moment, I’ll lose them.
The mere thought brings tears to her eyes.
“Mama and Anya need to have girl talk right now! ” Anya shrieks out of nowhere. It's surprising enough to shock Yor from her despair, and she reaches down to sweep Anya up into her arms.
“Anya, sweetheart, what-?”
“Right now!” Anya insists. “You and me go and talk, and Papa isn’t allowed to listen ‘cus it’s girl talk, and Becky says it’s a crime for boys to listen to girl talk.”
Anya looks smugly at her father. Loid looks like he wants a drink.
“Anya,” Yor starts carefully, “Are you sure right now is the best time for this? I think maybe we should be figuring a way out of here.” Please let there be a way out of here.
“I think you should talk with her.” Loid says, surprisingly. “I haven’t been able to figure our way out yet and… I think… It's important. To listen.”
Yor blinks at him. “A-alright.”
Anya grins up at her. Then she whips around to point a scowl at her father. “Papa keeps his ears covered the whole time.”
Loid frowns. “I’m not doing that.”
“Do it or- or I’m never going to go to school again! And if you make me I’ll fail everything on purpose!”
“Alright! Alright!” Loid puts his hands over his ears. Anya motions for him to turn around, and he does with a sigh.
Yor smiles to herself and turns back to Anya. “Is there something you wanted to tell me?” She asks.
Anya gets all shy suddenly, focusing on picking a loose string on Yor’s sweater instead of looking her in the eye.
“Anya?” Yor asks softly.
“Are you always gonna want me, Mama?” Anya asks.
Yor’s eyes widen. “What? Of course Anya!” She insists. Why is she asking that? Have I been doing such a bad job at parenting that she thinks I don’t want to be her mother anymore?!
Anya keeps picking at Yor’s sweater. “Even if I had a big, scary secret? Even if I wasn’t who you thought I was?”
A big secret? Yor hardly thinks there’s anything that could be a bigger secret than ‘secret assassin’ but even if there was, she couldn’t think of anything that would make her not want to be Anya’s mother anymore. Anya could be… well she could be anything , a killer or a secret robot or a Westalis spy, or a combination of all three and Yor couldn’t stop loving her with every fiber of her heart.
And even if I wasn’t who you thought? Yor relaxes, and smiles at that.
“Anya, I know exactly who you are. You’re Anya Forger, my daughter.” Yor tries to pour every bit of love in her heart into those words. Anya looks up, gaze filled with hope, finally meeting her eyes.
“You’re sweet, and silly, and you love peanuts. You watch Bondman every night, and you try super hard on your homework, even when you hate it.” Yor smooths Anya’s hair back, and lays a gentle kiss on her forehead.
“I might not know everything about you, but I still know you. A secret, no matter how big, can’t change that. And I might be your second Mama, but I’m never going to stop wanting you. So unless you tell me to leave, you’ll be stuck with me forever.” Yor’s smile falls. Well, you might tell me to leave quite soon…
Anya buries her face in Yor’s neck and hugs her tightly. Yor’s eyes widen.
“I would never , ever tell you to leave Mama.” Anya says with all the vindication a child like her can muster.
Yor smiles softly, blinking back tears. She closes her eyes and leans her head to rest on top of Anya’s.
After a long comfortable moment, Yor breaks the silence. “Do you want to tell me your secret? You don’t have too if you don’t want too, but if it’ll make you feel better-”
“No, I gotta tell you. It’s important, but it’s scary.” Anya pouts adorably, but Yor can feel how tense she is. Yor dosen’t push her either way, just holds Anya and sways as she waits.
Eventually Anya picks her head up. Yor tilts her head, and Anya whispers into her ear:
“I know you’re an assassin-”
WHAT?!
“Because I’m a telepath.”
…what?
Yor’s panic at the first confession was so intense she almost missed the second one completely. Is this… some sort of joke? How would Anya manage something so absurd and specific-
“It’s not a joke!” Anya insists, even though Yor didn’t say anything. “Think a number and I'll tell you exactly what it is.”
Five hundred.
“Five hundred!”
Negative seven.
“Neg-a-tive seven!”
Pi!
“Pie’s not a number.” Anya frowns.
Yor needs to sit down. “Well I certainly believe you.” She says breathlessly. She can’t conceive of any possible way for Anya to be faking, or for any reason why she might be.
“And… you’re not mad?” Anya asks. Yor snaps back into focus.
“Never!” She smooths back Anya’s hair. “I never want you to be scared to tell me anything. And even if I was mad, I’d still want to be your Mama.”
Anya smiles tearfully, and giggles. “Papa said the same thing.”
Yor glances across the room. Loid is still sitting on the ground with his hands still over his ears. “So your father already knew…?”
Anya shakes her head. “I jus’ told him. The little screen says we gotta say our secrets, or else it’s gonna say for us.”
Yor feels all the blood rush from her face. “I- I can’t.” He’ll leave me and take her and then I’ll lose them both! Even if Anya already knew, no sane man would raise his daughter with an assassin as a mother!
Something makes a ding in Anya’s pocket and she pulls it out. “The little screen says if we don’t hurry up and choose it’s going to choose for us.”
Part of Yor feels furious at that, being threatened by this strange little coward hiding where she can’t even properly fight it! The rest is overcome by panic, and trying not to think too many bad things while Anya is in ear shot. (Think shot?) She takes a deep breath and tries to collect her thoughts.
Yor frowns at the ground. “So you’ve always known, about me. But he…”
“He’s got no clue!” Anya confirms with a grin. Then her expression sobers, much more serious than a child her age should be capable of. “It didn’ seem fair, to tell your secret but not his.”
“Loid has a secret?” Yor’s heart squeezes painfully. Were the neighbor ladies right? Is he really-?
“It’s nothing like that!” Anya cuts off Yor’s internal thoughts.
“Then what is it?”
“I promised not to tell. But I want…” Anya trails off with a frown. It’s a long moment before she starts again. “Papa lies a lot , but he’s really bad at it. All the real, real important stuff, he can’t hide no matter how hard he tries. I would know! So I think when you hear his secret it’s gonna be scary and make you real mad, but I think you should think and listen before you get mad, ‘cus even if the secret seems really big and scary at first, it’s not really as big as you think.”
Yor stares down at her daughter, and sees a disconcerting sort of wisdom. It’s hard for Yor to wrap her head around the concept of ‘telepathy’, but when she looks at Anya right now… Well, she sees her little girl. But she also sees a child with too much insight to the world around her, a child carrying too much on her tiny shoulders.
Yor closes her eyes. She’s known the whole time. We’re going to have to talk about that.
She looks at Loid. Her husband, who’s apparently been keeping a secret. A secret that, at least in Anya’s eyes, rivals her own.
Later. We’ll talk later. At home. After we figure this whole mess out.