Work Text:
Trucy Enigmar finds herself walking through the courthouse lobby, slowly speeding up as the hallway seems to grow longer and longer. The world around her feels thick and stretchy, the walls around her stretching like a piece of Play-Doh. Her body feels so heavy, but she can’t stop moving forward. She can’t.
“Daddy?” She calls out, her voice echoing through the halls and in her head.
There’s a pain behind her forehead that grows stronger with each step she takes, the hallway so long that she can’t really see the end anymore, and when she tries to call out for her daddy again her voice fails her. She’s walking, walking, her head is throbbing, throbbing-
She feels a cold towel being pressed to her forehead, the pain still excruciating but to a lesser extent as her eyes flutter open. Her gaze moves up and she sees her daddy, the new one, sitting on her bed looking down at her.
“Sorry Truce, didn't mean to wake you,” he whispers apologetically. “Feeling any better?”
She tries to say something, anything, but her mouth is too dry and her throat is no better. He sees that and leans over to her bedside table, grabbing a bottle of water and tilting her head up so she can take sips of water. She nearly ends up downing the whole thing.
“‘M okay,” she mumbles, pushing her blankets away as she feels sweat pooling around where the towel rests on her head.
Daddy doesn’t look convinced. “You feeling up to eating anything? I can make soup.” Just the thought makes her stomach churn, so she shakes her head. “Let’s give it an hour, and see if you feel up to eating then.” He smoothes out her hair as he stands up. “Keep getting rest, okay?”
He doesn’t have to tell her twice.
Trucy’s on stage, Troupe Gramarye back together for the show of a lifetime. Her mommy is like an angel on stage as she sings while swallowing swords, earning a roaring applause from the crowd. Mommy catches her eye at the end of the trick, smiling as she bows, and Trucy is reminded of how much she wishes she could see her mommy smile just one more time.
She has no time to dwell on it, however, because it’s almost time for her stage debut. She doesn’t know what to expect, as Daddy and Uncle Valant have kept it a secret until now, but she can only feel excitement as Mommy takes her hand and takes her to the centre of the stage. Daddy and Uncle Valant announce something to the crowd that sounds muffled, and before she can question it they bring out their pistols and fire.
Mommy disappears all over again, and her hand is empty.
Trucy’s eyes shoot open, startling her new daddy into letting go of her hand. She hadn’t even realized he’d been holding it in the first place.
“What happened, kiddo?” He asks. “Were you having a fever dream?”
Her throat parched again, all she can do is nod. His eyes soften before he bends down to kiss her forehead, gently bringing the back of his hand to her cheek. “You’re still burning up,” he says. “I’m gonna take your temperature again, okay?”
He grabs the thermometer from her bedside table and she opens her mouth, letting him put it under her tongue before pulling the blankets back over her. She takes the towel off her head and gives it back to Daddy before the thermometer starts beeping, taking it out and giving it to him as well.
The face he makes when he sees the number...isn’t great, to say the least.
“Truce, I don’t wanna scare you,” he takes her hand, “but we may have to go to the hospital.”
“Am I dying?” She croaks.
“N-No, I promise.” He gets up and lets go of her hand. “I’ll be right back, okay?”
She’s too tired to determine whether he’s lying or not. She tries to stay awake long enough for him to come back, but her eyelids become too heavy and she falls back asleep.
She’s staring out the agency window, looking out at the city of Los Angeles like she did the first night her new Daddy had let her stay. She watches lights in buildings turn on and off, wondering what other families were doing at that moment. She wonders what her daddy is doing at that moment.
He hadn’t told her where he’d be hiding in the short visit they had when he was in the detention centre, so her imagination runs wild imagining him flying like Max Galactica (who’s very overrated, in her opinion) over the city and to infinity and beyond. Maybe he’s in Vegas right now, in disguise and cracking a joke in a casino. Maybe he’s in Toronto riding a polar bear. Maybe he’s in London, dangling off of Big Ben just to prove that he can. Wherever he is, she hopes he’s safe and thinking of her.
She glances up at the dark sky, admiring the stars that weren’t there before as a jolly laugh echoes through the night. A yellow figure shoots through the sky, and if it weren’t for the tophat she would’ve thought it was a weird-looking shooting star.
“Uncle Valant!” She cries, bouncing up and down. “Uncle Valant, you’re flying!”
“Farewell, little Trucy!” His voice booms, sounding amplified like he’s speaking into a microphone. “I’m off to tour the world!”
“But what about me?” She asks, getting no response. She opens the window and hops out, soaring after him. “Take me with you, Uncle Valant!”
He laughs again, and he flies away so fast she blinks and he’s vanished.
Trucy wakes up in her new daddy’s arms, but her eyes are so heavy she can’t bring herself to check her surroundings. There’s a faint bitter smell in the air that Daddy’s voice soon joins, his words muffled as his hand moves up and down her back. There’s an unfamiliar voice that talks back to him, and she feels herself being lowered onto something and her daddy’s voice suddenly sounding so far away.
She uses what little energy she has to whine, her cheeks wet as she lifts her arm and tries to grab onto him. Air slips through her fingers before her hand comes down to rest on her stomach, and she slips away as what she’s been placed on begins to move.
Mommy is standing in front of her, arms open wide as she smiles like she’s been waiting for her daughter for a long time. Trucy takes off running towards her, and as she’s about to crash into her warm embrace her mommy turns into light blue smoke.
“Little Trucy, come here!”
She turns and sees Uncle Valant twirling his baton, tossing it aside as she takes off running again. His arms open, and just as she’s about to hug him, he vanishes into yellow smoke.
“Trucy Gramarye, my child!”
She turns around and her daddy is there, hands on his hips, and she doesn’t learn from her past two attempts. He turns into smoke just as she reaches him, and when she finds she’s completely alone she falls to her knees and cries tears that don’t fall.
Her mommy is gone.
Her uncle is gone.
Her daddy is gone.
She’s all alone.
No matter what she does, she will always be alone.
“Hey, kiddo.”
She looks up. The old boy from the courthouse kneels down to face her, taking her hand.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you.”
The first thing she registers when she wakes up is a thumb stroking the back of her hand. It takes some effort to open her eyes but when she does, she meets her daddy’s tearful gaze and he lets out a strangled noise of relief.
“Truce, honey, hey.” He leans up and kisses her sticky from sweat forehead. “We’re in the hospital. You’re okay.” He brushes her hair back. “How do you feel?”
“Better,” she croaks. “Can I have some water?”
He grabs a water bottle with a straw and holds it for her as she drinks, feeling much better once she’s done. It isn’t until he’s put it down on her little hospital table that she realizes he hasn’t let go of her hand once. “You slept through the night,” Daddy says. “It’s Friday, so when we go home you have the weekend to just relax.”
“Can we watch movies?” She asks. “Uncle Miles told me I need to finish the Steel Samurai series before we see him again.”
Daddy laughs. “Sure, kiddo. We can watch whatever you want.”
She smiles at him, biting her lip for a moment before speaking again. “Daddy, I-”
The door opens, and they’re interrupted by a nurse. “Oh, I see little Miss Enigmar is awake! How are you feeling, sweetie?”
The check-up goes smoothly, the nurse telling them that if the fever doesn’t come back then Trucy can go home that day. When they’re left alone again, Trucy squeezes her daddy’s hand to get his attention.
“Daddy?”
“Yeah?”
Her heart is pounding in her ears, but she’s never felt more sure of herself. “I don’t wanna be Miss Enigmar anymore. I wanna be a Wright.”
Daddy looks like he’s about to cry all over again. “Y-you do?”
She nods. “If I’m allowed.”
“Why wouldn’t you be?” He asks, though he doesn’t wait for her to answer. “Truce, oh my God, you have no idea how happy that would make me.” He holds her hand in both of his. “I-I love you so much.”
Those five words bring tears to Trucy’s eyes as well. She tries to blink them away, but she gives up as she’s brought into the world’s safest hug. “I love you, Daddy.”
She hugs him back, and he doesn’t disappear.