Work Text:
It had been raining badly for a couple of days now. The twins were asleep in their room, as Deryn made sure that they kept a regular schedule, even with Ginny working 24 hour shifts since the storm started. More calls, more accidents—her work needed her, which left Deryn on his own.
He didn't mind, of course. He always enjoyed taking care of both Cassandra and Alexa, but he did miss being able to talk to someone who wasn't four years old.
Deryn checked the clock. It was 10 pm, so Ginny wouldn't be home for another 9 hours. He sighed in defeat as he continued placing all the cutlery in its designated drawer.
He was definitely running out of things to do.
A knock on the door stopped him in his tracks. No one should be at his door at this hour. Closing the kitchen drawer, he crept towards the main hall, staring the door down as if keeping his eyes on it would suddenly reveal who was behind it.
A knock again. Like second nature, Deryn's body took a defensive stance. His eyes were locked onto the door, and every step he took was so soft and weightless, not even the old wooden floor dared to make a single sound.
"Deryn?" A voice came from behind the door.
No, it wasn't just any voice. It was a voice he could've recognized anywhere. A voice burned so deep in his brain, hearing it again felt like a joke. A dream. A nightmare.
The person behind the door spoke again, his tone defeated.
"I really need your help…"
Something overtook Deryn at that moment. He didn't need to think twice as he rushed to the door and opened it. An extremely stupid decision, if he was being completely honest—shape-shifters and voice changers existed, yet something in him said to trust his gut.
Even if he knew who he was expecting, he was surprised by the state of the man in front of his eyes.
The moment he opened the door, Sparrow looked completely different. He looked older. Part of Deryn couldn't figure out if his hair was grayer, or if the white streaks of his hair were always like that. His eyes were tired and his smile was broken. Sparrow's beard was messy and unkempt, feathers growing through different directions and fluffing up due to stress. Sparrow looked bigger than Deryn remembered, though the lack of wings made Deryn's heart sting.
Yet there was something painfully familiar about him. Sparrow was completely soaked, his hair all puffed out how it used to do when they were young. Even after all this time living in a fancy house surrounded by riches, he wore a common T-shirt that didn't fit well. His pants looked old and patched up, like something he had been fixing for years rather than throwing them away and buying a new pair.
When Sparrow looked at Deryn, he wore the same smile he gave Deryn 14 years ago. The idea Deryn had formed of Sparrow through the years they were separated shattered in front of him, and now the only thing that was left was the kid Deryn knew all those years ago standing at his doorway.
The cold rain hitting his face made him come back to reality. He looked once again at Sparrow, noticing how underdressed he was for this weather. Deryn was about to scold him when he noticed a small figure behind the other man.
Behind him, there was a kid that looked no more than 14 years old. The kid looked lost. Afraid. They were an avian, a type of avian Deryn had never seen before with three pair of wings. The feathers in their wings and hair were a mess, as if no one had ever preened them before in their life. They had a jacket bigger than themselves protecting them from the cold and the rain, their wings inside the jacket bringing even more warmth to themselves.
They were looking around and behind themselves, their eyes open wide. They held Sparrow like he was their lifeline, like if they let go of him, someone would take them away.
"I'm sorry for dropping here out of nowhere. I needed somewhere safe, and you were the only person I thought of and—" Sparrow's voice trembled, "Would you mind if we came inside?"
Deryn moved out of the way as he let both of the guests in. Sparrow let the kid walk in first, the kid pulling him inside. Deryn closed the door behind them.
As he locked the door, he felt his hands tremble. He tried taking a deep breath, yet all that came out was a shaky sigh.
"Come," Deryn turn around as he walked towards the kitchen and living room, "This way, let me give you something to drink or eat."
The kid perked up a the idea of food, pulling Sparrow towards the kitchen as he followed Deryn. It was a short walk, and Deryn opened the fridge as the kid and Sparrow sat down in the living room. The kid was whispering to him, Sparrow listening to them with full attention. Deryn heated up some leftover broth and poured it into two bowls.
As soon as Deryn entered the living room, the kid let go of Sparrow completely to grab the food given to them. Sparrow thanked him for both of them as he took his own bowl.
Deryn looked at both of them, fully soaked from the rain. He sighed and left, not taking long to return with two towels for each of them. The kid took off their jacket, letting Sparrow dry their hair while they were busy drinking down their broth.
The way Sparrow acted around this kid was familiar, something Deryn himself could see himself doing it with either of his kids. That small realization felt like a stab to his heart. He didn't want to think about it much.
For the second time in the night, Deryn's and Sparrow's eyes met. There were no words said, yet both of them knew what the other was thinking.
"Hey," Sparrow looked down at the kid. His voice was cheerful, nothing like the tone he used with Deryn when he arrived. "Do you want mine?"
The kid's eyes shined even brighter than before.
"Thank you." It was barely a whisper. Sparrow smiled at them.
"I'm going to be back, okay?" He stood up and patted the kid's hair, "Deryn and I are gonna go talk in the kitchen for a bit."
Deryn jumped at the mention of his name. The other man gave him a soft smile and extended a hand for him to join. Deryn stood up, but before leaving with Sparrow, he turned on the TV.
A rerun of the movie The Adventures of Charlie and Tim: The Lost City of the Sun was on. The kid's eyes immediately fixated on the TV, as if they had never seen one before. Deryn left the living room to join Sparrow in the kitchen.
Sparrow was resting on the counter, a tired expression taking hold of him once more. He crossed his arms over his chest, fingers twitching as they tried to rest on his bicep. Deryn felt his eyes shift away from Sparrow.
Deryn knew he was staring. He didn't want to stare so much, but seeing Sparrow in person after so many years of seeing him on the news only was strange. He was used to seeing Sparrow in suits or in more formal clothing. There was something so off-putting about seeing Sparrow so casual and messy in his kitchen, in the same kitchen they used to sit and talk to each other for hours on end, no tension in the air, just the two of them.
Now, of course, the tension took over the entire room. The silence was deafening. How is he supposed to start a conversation with the same person who abandoned him 14 years ago?
"The house looks nice—"
"What is wrong with you?" Deryn whispered angrily, the words leaving his mouth without him even noticing, "Appearing here with your kid in the middle of the night? What kind of joke is this?"
Sparrow lowered his eyes, not wanting to confront Deryn. His hand gripped his arms, holding himself tighter than before.
"I'm sorry," was all he said in return.
"What happened?" The question felt more like an order, "Why did you randomly decide to show up on my doorstep with your kid?"
He thought their last goodbye was their last. He was so ready to just live a live without him in it anymore, he already accepted it. Whatever Sparrow was doing now gave him a false sense of hope he didn't appreciate.
Deryn took a breath in, already regretting the next words out of his mouth, "Where's Canary?"
"She's at the house," He replied, eyes still fixated on the floor, "She's with Jimmy—you know, my son. I don't think I ever told you his name—while I take care of this kid."
Deryn's brain stopped for a second. The kid in his living room wasn't Sparrow's kid. If he wasn't the kid that broke it all… Then who the fuck was there watching TV?
Sparrow seemed to know what Deryn was thinking, because he explained without Deryn saying a word.
"That's my nephew, I— There's so much, I don't even know how to start—" Sparrow's voice trembled and for the first time ever, Deryn saw how Sparrow had lost control of the situation, "I need a place where he can be safe temporarily, until I figure something out where everyone is safe."
"What about Canary?" He asked, trying to search for solutions. "What about your house?"
"Canary— Canary has been trying to make it work…" Deryn tried to control his face as he heard Sparrow talk about her. He was well aware he brought her up, but part of him couldn't hear her name coming from Sparrow's mouth. "But she can't— she can't hold it much longer. She is trying to hold it together for the kids, but it's taking so much of her."
Sparrow put his head in his hands and Deryn's entire attitude shifted. The anger that had bubbled in him disappeared, the tension in his body was gone. He saw himself almost 3 years ago, after the twins came into his life. He remembered having to figure everything out about how to take care of them with Ginny. It was hard. He never had the greatest role model of how to be a father—had the exact opposite, really. But at least he had Ginny with him, and Ginny had him. They were together.
But unlike him, Sparrow was now alone.
"It's not safe for anyone, he can't stay there… What if they try to find him?" Sparrow continued, "Then all the years I spend trying to keep them safe… everything I gave up— Would have been for nothing."
Sparrow broke in front of him. The man Deryn once saw as a beacon of light, of security, who had gone through hell and back growing up and came out with a smile, was now shattering in his kitchen. Sparrow was a man that thrived on his ability to protect others, on maintaining his community, on keeping his family safe. He had always been like this, ever since they first met as preteens. Even then, Sparrow had taken the mantle of the oldest, the grown-up of the group. He was the leader Deryn grew up to be. But now, Sparrow was alone and lost on what to do, he had no control over the situation at hand. Deryn knew feeling useless was killing him inside.
"I have a spare room," Deryn sighed, scratching the back of his neck. "But I have to tell Ginny about this, and you will stay here until she arrives. Call Canary from the phone if you need to… but you are not leaving this house tonight, you are resting."
Sparrow smiled, his eyes were teary and his voice was soft when he whispered a small "Thank you."
"Ginny missed you a lot."
Sparrow looked back at him, he couldn't hide his smile as he looked down.
"I missed her as well," he said, then he looked back at Deryn, "I missed you, too."
Deryn tried to ignore that last part, tried to hold back the smile as he looked back at the kid, who was still focused on the TV in front of them. At some point during the conversation, they'd move so close to the screen, Deryn was worried for their eyes. They were so entranced by whatever was going on, they'd left their bowl half finished—obviously, the TV had won their attention over the food.
"They are from Canary's side of the family, I suppose."
"Yeah," Sparrow's voice felt lighter. He shifted uncomfortably to a better position, trying to act as if he just hadn't just broken down in front of Deryn.
"What's the kid's name?" Deryn asked as he tried lifting the mood.
"He doesn't want to say it… I met that kid so few times I can count it with my hands." Sparrow walked over to Deryn, resting closer to him as they both looked over at the kid. Their shoulders bumped on each other. "Can you believe that? In the 17 years of that kid's life, I saw him less than 10 times."
"Yeah— Excuse me, did you just say that kid is 17?" Deryn stopped as he looked at Sparrow again. Their faces were close, but it was so familiar it didn't even surprise him. "That kid is staying here, I'm not letting him go with your bad cooking skills. He will stay here until he looks his age."
Sparrow giggled at Deryn's entire change of attitude towards the kid the moment he learned more about them.
"Okay, mama bird," Sparrow teased.
Deryn scoffed and pushed Sparrow to the side softly. He walked into the living room where the kid was. He looked at the TV, the commercial break was finishing and the movie was starting back again.
Charlie and Tim, the adventure brothers. They had a lot of comics and animated shows, but this was the most recent movie, The Adventures of Charlie and Tim: The Lost City of the Sun. A kid's movie, and just as expected, the kid was entertained by it.
"You like it?" Deryn kneel next to him, he spoke in the softest voice he could, a tone that even seemed to surprise Sparrow. "I read some of the comics. I can ask my wife to get some for you, if you want them."
The kid looked away from the TV, his purple eyes staring Deryn, wide and full of intrigue. Deryn wished he could know exactly what that kid was thinking, what he had lived through. Right now, in front of him, he just saw a kid— no, not a kid. A teenager, a 17 year old, that looked like he was a preteen. A teen who was covered in cuts and bruises, hair and wings so badly preened, it made Deryn question if they ever had been taken care of. In front of him, he saw a kid that needed comfort.
"Who's your favorite character?" He continued the conversation, he was 50% sure he wouldn't get a spoken answer, but Deryn was fine with that.
The kid stared back at the TV, waiting for someone to appeared. When the character did, he pointed at him and simply whispered "Pretty."
Deryn looked at the screen to where the kid was pointing. It was the dramatic yet refined prince of the lost civilization, curious about the two explorers. Since it was his introductory movie, he was stuck as the brothers' sidekick for the entire movie. If Deryn recalled correctly, he was supposed to be a one-time character, but he became so popular he became a recurring character in the franchise. Deryn tried to remember his name.
"Grian? The prince? You like him?"
"Grian..." The kid look back at the screen as he nodded. "I like him…"
"Yeah, I heard he is pretty great."