❝ family matters ❞

            The long stretch between one small town and the next became quiet after Cataleya fell asleep in the passenger seat. For hours she'd driven non-stop, foot pressed on the accelerator and Seth smiling at her as she belted the various Spanish songs that crackled through the old speakers. She wasn't much of a singer, but he didn't mind it.

He stopped at a small gas station in the middle of nowhere, parking as close to the entrance as he could to ensure that if anyone happened to stumble upon the sleeping Cat, he would know about it. His beard had grown too long and Cataleya barely let him leave the room while he detoxed, so Seth made use of the poorly lit bathroom and cleaned himself up, hand running over his now smooth face as he stared at himself in the dirty mirror.

Despite dropping the subject so quickly, the way Carlos let them go so easily gnawed at him. Cataleya made it clear, or what she wanted him to assume was clear, that he did so because he couldn't hurt her, and that if he did the Big Boss would have something to say about it. But there was more to it. There had to be.

Whatever, he thought, he'd figure it out soon enough, but for now they had places to be.

Seth wasn't surprised to see Cataleya still out, head leaning against the broken window that refused to roll all the way up. Neither of them had gotten much sleep in the past week, and he could tell she was exhausted from taking care of him almost every day.

As they neared Houston, Cataleya stirred, a yawn falling from her mouth as she looked out the window at the new surroundings.

"Morning, Sweetheart."

Cataleya mumbled a quick "morning" while she rubbed at her eyes. "Where are we?"

"Few hours out of Houston. I'm surprised you didn't wake up while we were crossing the border. One guy was giving me the evil eye. I swear he recognized me." Seth shook his head.

"Really?" Cataleya laughed. "I'm surprised. You know, considering you and your brother are dead now."

Seth chuckled in response.

He'd made peace with the fact that he'd probably never see his brother again. Or at least that's what he forced himself to think. Something told him it was a good thing because Richie being gone might've been the only reason the best thing to happen to him sat right beside him in the passenger seat.

Cataleya's hand reached over and grabbed Seth's chin, almost as if she could tell that in that moment she was the only thing occupying his mind.

"Aw," she pouted, her thumb running across his now smooth jaw, "I liked the beard."

Seth smirked after she dropped her hand from his face and turned back toward the window. All those months of saying she was something, and he finally knew what that something was.

His.

° ° °

"Place looks the same," Seth sighed to himself, hands resting on top of the steering wheel as he looked at Eddie's shop through the windshield.

Seth hadn't talked to the old man in years, but seeing as he and Cat were running low on cash, he figured he could use a little help organizing a score.

"I'm kinda excited to meet this guy," Cataleya smirked, leg hanging out of the now open door. "You think he has any baby pictures he could show me?"

Seth shook his head in reply before he stepped out and made his way toward the entrance.

He picked up the rock Eddie always hid the spare under, and lo and behold, it was gone. Shit. He really didn't want to break into this place.

"Got it."

Seth turned around to see Cataleya striding on through the now unlocked entrance.

"You should tell him to find a better hiding place," Cataleya joked, eyes scanning what little surroundings she could see in the dim lit building. She swung the keys around her finger as she ran her hand along a wooden table covered with papers, only to still when the familiar sound of a shotgun cocking resounded from behind her.

Seth sighed. "Really?"

Cataleya turned around to face the man with the gun as he switched on the light, and she could only assume this was the Uncle Eddie Seth so highly spoke of. Pointing a gun right at her face.

Well, this is just fan-fucking-tastic.

"Look who's back from the dead. The hell do you think you're doing letting yourself in here like this?" The man spoke, gun still pointing at the two.

Cataleya held up the finger his keys dangled from. "Maybe put this in a not so obvious place next time. Under the rug? Really?" She tossed the key towards him, prompting Eddie to lower his gun in order to catch them.

He stared at the new face, an amused grin forming before he spoke to her. "You really think you should be taunting the one with a gun?"

Cataleya shared a look with Seth before shrugging. "Well, that just makes it more fun."

Eddie rested the gun on his shoulder walked towards her. "What in God's name is a fine young lady like yourself doing with a no-good shit-bird like him?"

"He kidnapped me."

Eddie laughed as he reached out his hand to shake hers. "Makes sense, Miss..."

"Cataleya," she replied.

"Cataleya. He only comes calling when he needs something."

Seth scoffed. "That's not true."

"And right about now," Eddie continued, "he's gonna flash that shit eating grin of his."

Cataleya looked over the man's shoulder, and sure enough, a wide grin planted itself on Seth's lips. "Oh, I know that grin all too well..."

"Alright, well, good to know you two are bonding over your mutual annoyance of me," Seth droned as he pulled Cataleya from Eddie and to his side, "but I just came here to ask you one thing."

Eddie sighed. "And that would be?"

Seth glanced over at Cataleya before looking back to the man that took him in all those years ago with raised his eyebrows.

And Eddie knew exactly what that look meant.

"No, I can't do it."

"Come on, it's just until I get back on my feet," Seth reasoned, pulling out a chair from the table they stood next to.

Eddie sat down to flip through the scattered pages illuminated by the flickering fluorescents overhead. "You think I got scores growing on trees?

"I think you got a ripe one right he–"

Eddie shut the book on Seth's hand. "That ain't for you." He pulled the book away from him and stood, piling the random papers on top of it and shoving everything into a box away from Seth's desperate and prying eyes.

"Okay, fine," Seth groaned, following after Eddie into another room, "what else you got?"

Cataleya rolled her eyes at their bickering. I thought I'd heard the end of that months ago.

The hand bringing the mug of coffee up to her face ceased to move. A sudden realization that she hadn't thought about Richie for weeks now passed over her, and, suddenly, as if she'd built a dam pushing back memory of him and it crumbled, there he was, lying bleeding on the floor of The Twister being dragged away by the very monster whose memories she saw almost every night.

Her breath hitched in her throat, and if it wasn't for Seth's raised voice breaking her from her reverie, the mug that read ' world's best uncle ' in scraggly painted letters would've been in pieces on the floor.

"Two days ago, Richie came in here looking for a handout." Eddie uncapped a bottle of scotch. "Now you're here with Miss Cataleya over there looking for gold - could you put that down please?"

Cataleya barely registered that he'd been speaking to her before she set the mug down.

"Richie was here?"

Her words came out low, speaking more to herself than the two men standing a few feet away from her. Yet as soon as the words left her lips, they both turned to her.

Seth looked at the range of emotions on her face; shock, anger, relief. He couldn't pinpoint a single one. They all melded together into some strange feeling he couldn't fully decipher. Her eyes flicked to his before shifting downward, almost as if she didn't want to let him see what it is she really felt.

For some reason, that hurt him. For some god damn reason, he felt, just for a split second, that maybe she wasn't his anymore. Maybe she was never his to begin with.

Seth couldn't bear to let his thoughts eat away at him anymore, and for the time being, he wiped them away and instead turned back to Eddie.

"What did he want?"

"He wanted a favor, just like you."

"Okay, you know what," Seth scowled, "forget it. Come on, sweethear–"

"You were supposed to look out for him."

Seth sighed before turning back towards his so-called uncle. "Don't start with all that family bullshit, alright? Richard left. He's not family anymore."

"That's funny," Eddie spoke lowly, "he said the same thing."

Cataleya looked between the two men, both sending variations of a glare towards the other. She couldn't take this anymore. She was tired of hearing Seth say he didn't care about Richie. She knew god damn well that he did, no matter what the son of a bitch did.

She shoved down the conflicting thoughts barreling through her mind and sipped at the coffee she'd poured herself.

"So, who's going first?"

They both turned to her, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"You both look like you wanna kick the other's ass so who's going first? We gonna toss a coin or play rock, paper, scissors?"

Eddie sighed. "You can't just go out there and start pulling jobs again."

"Why the hell not?"

"The name Seth Gecko doesn't mean anything anymore. Your brother really made that Walker Texas Ranger car-of-the-cliff shit stick. You're dead," Eddie spoke, "literally."

Cataleya poured coffee into another mug and handed it to Eddie while Seth replied, hands gesturing wildly like they so often did when he talked.

"Okay, fine. We'll start from scratch. Okay? Gimme something simple."

"I'd give him something," Cataleya shrugged while sipping at her coffee, "but I'm kind of biased, so..."

Seth raised his eyebrows in question, waiting for a yes or no from Eddie. He sincerely hoped for a yes, because god knows he and Cat could use the money.

Eddie took a few steps back over toward the table where a few papers still lay scattered and shuffled through them. He picked up a napkin that was hidden under them, the dark writing slightly smudged, probably from spilled beer or fast food grease. The man chuckled to himself before turning back around.

"I might have something for you."

° ° °

Cataleya ran her hand along the top of the cherry red cutlass, admiring it before turning to lean back against it.

Eddie had given Seth a job, an easy one he'd said, a collection job. Eddie'd loaned these guys a couple of bucks, and they were a little more than overdue on giving it back.

"Everybody loves a good underdog story, wouldn't you say? See somebody triumph in the face of adversity." Seth turned away from the car, sending a wink to the girl leaning against it before walking towards the men. "See somebody taking punches. Get knocked down. Drag themselves up, and keep on swinging... That's Rocky."

The two men stared at him like he was a complete idiot, and Cataleya didn't think she could completely disagree. But Seth had his ways, and those ways usually worked.

"Greatest underdog story ever told. You know, it's funny, but uh... a lot of people actually forget that he loses in the first movie, ya know," Seth chuckled, smoothing out his suit as he sat down on a stool. "That's the whole point, you see, even in the face of defeat, he got his chance to prove himself. And," Seth spread his arms out wide, "he gets the girl."

The man wiped his hands with a blackened towel, eyes bored as he replied. "That's great, son, but I ain't giving you the cash."

Cataleya pushed herself from the car as she tsked. "Wrong answer."

"Larry, you got the cash and then some. Now, sweetheart," Seth turned toward Cataleya, "what would that 442 be worth?"

"More than he owes, that's for sure." She pursed her lips in thought. "Five, six times what he owes? Depends on the make."

"So, Larry, from the looks of it I'd say you boys are doing some pretty nice work around here. Eddie says you been doing, uh, brisk business ever since he gave you that loan. He wants it back, with interest."

"Eddie and his ridiculous interest... can suck my lily-white ass. And you and miss daisy duke over here call yourselves collectors? Why should I deliver to you? Who the fuck are you?"

Seth chuckled, sharing a glance with Cataleya before speaking. "Ah, well, at this moment, right now, we're nobody. But in 3.2 seconds, we can be any number of people. I can be Mr. Switzerland. Gets along with all the other nations around. Keeps good time. Makes fine chocolate." Seth fussed with his cuffs before continuing. "Now, Mr. Switzerland would take receipt and be on his way. I can be him."

"Or," Seth gestured to the girl now standing next to him, arms crossed and a glare present on her face. "She can be Ms. North Korea. I think you know what I mean when I say Ms. North Korea."

"Crazy motherfucker."

"Crazy motherfucker..."

"I'll tell you what," Larry sighed, "how about I have my boy Wade here shoot you two in the face? Then y'all can be Guam, who nobody gives a fuck about."

Wade silently crept behind the two, a large wrench held down at his side. They both knew he was there, and Cataleya reached in her pocket and felt for Richie's knife.

Larry held his hand up, signaling for the other man to back off before reaching down and putting in the safe combination. "I'm not gonna do that."

Cataleya pulled the knife out at the sight of the gun tucked away inside the safe, unsheathing it and holding it behind her.

"Wise choice." Seth grabbed the money Larry laid out on the table and tucked it into his jacket. "Eddie says ' much grass. '"

Larry looked over Seth's shoulder, and before the man even swung at Seth, Cataleya sliced at the back of his knee. He'll live, she thought, shoving the knife into his arm as he swung at her. Maybe.

She turned around to see Seth slamming Larry onto the table, his arm broken behind his back and his own gun pressed against his head. "You know who I am now?"

Larry only grunted in pain.

"I'm Seth Gecko, motherfucker."

Cataleya was already in the driver's seat of the cutlass, arm hanging out the window to bang on the side. "Hey, Gecko!"

Seth grinned as he jumped in the passenger seat, staring at the raging wildfire that was Cataleya as she pressed the accelerator and watched the speedometer climb higher and higher. The night air was cool against their faces. Her dark hair blew around her face like smoke hovering above an inferno.

On some nights, when the Mexican air did all but physically suffocate them, they'd lay there in the dark and talk. She'd told him about the chaos her life was, and still is, filled with, and how she wished she had something stable. She never quite said she wanted to settle down. Deep down he thought she knew she never could. And now he knew why.

Looking at the wide smile on her face, the blood faintly smeared on her fingers, he knew. She could never settle down because she loved the chaos. Every last bit of it. The thrill of the jobs and the danger was too addicting.

And he really wished it wasn't, because he wanted her as far away from danger as possible. He wanted her safe, always, and if that meant her hating him for treating her like a child, then so be it.

He didn't care if she used every breath to tell him how much she hated him. At least then she'd be breathing.

° ° °

Cataleya couldn't remember ever being this happy. Maybe it'd happened once or twice before, but the memories seemed lost in the years she felt nothing but pain. Now she lifted her head toward the roof of the car and yelled out as she drove along the highway in a sweet ass cherry red cutlass, the foreign feeling of joy finally ebbing its way into her.

Her nightmares had all but disappeared. There were nights, yeah, but she also had Seth. He was always there when he needed her. Sure, sometimes he treated her like she couldn't do a single thing for herself, but she knew that was just his way of showing he truly cared.

Honestly, she was surprised that Seth let her take the car to drive down to surprise her brother alone. Normally he'd insist on coming along. She just assumed that his situation with his own brother made him realize how important her relationship with hers was.

She rolled to a stop in front of her brother's home about half an hour later, the sun beginning to set and the fresh smell of rain wafting from their concrete driveway.

She took a deep breath before wiping her hands on her jeans and taking those first steps up to the front door. Cataleya didn't know why she was so nervous. Freddie had insisted on them staying in contact, and they did, often texting and calling just to check in on the other. But still, meeting his wife, her sister in law, and his daughter, her niece... It felt like a huge step, one she couldn't completely fathom she was taking.

If someone had asked her a few years ago if she thought she'd be meeting her brother's family, some normal encounter straight out of a late night sit-com, she would've laughed in their face and gone back to icing her black eye. 

Now her fist knocked once, twice, three times on the front door – Freddie always hated doorbells – and the moment the door opened, she froze.

"Hi, can I help you?" The taller woman at the door held a child on her hip, and her warm face looked confused at the strange woman now standing on her doorstep.

"Yeah, um, my name's Cataleya. I'm Fre-"

The woman gasped. "Ferdinand's sister! Hi! Come in, come in, please. I just started dinner."

Cataleya smiled as she walked through the door and shut it behind her, following the woman to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry I didn't recognize you. Freddie doesn't really have any recent pictures of you. You can have a seat right there if you like." She pointed to a stool behind the kitchen island. "I'm Margaret, by the way, but you can call me Maggie."

"Thank you, Maggie," Cataleya replied as she slid onto the stool, "and that's alright. To be fair, I was sort of supposed to be dead? Not really surprising that there wouldn't be any new pictures of me."

Maggie laughed. "That's true. Freddie kind of filled me in on a little bit of the situation."

"Speaking of, where is my idiot brother?" Cataleya joked as she made funny faces at the child, who she learned was Freddie's daughter Billie through pictures he'd sent.

"Out working. You know how he is. He should be home in," she tilted her wrist towards her face, "about twenty minutes or so. He said he'd be here by 7:30. He's gonna be so excited to see you."

Cataleya offered to help with the cooking, to which Maggie gratefully accepted. Dealing with both the cooking and Billie's fidgeting, she'd said, was like running a marathon in space.

The minutes ticked by fairly quick with Cataleya helping set the table and keeping Billie busy while Maggie finished the cooking, and before she knew it Freddie came strolling in, soaking wet and looking utterly exhausted.

"Hey, Mags, sorry I'm–" He was cut off guard by his sister carrying a stack of plates to the table. He was glad she had quick reflexes, or else they all would've shattered when he tackled her with a hug.

"Ew, Freds, you're getting me all wet," Cataleya laughed, hugging her gross brother right back, just as tight. She hadn't seen him, other than in pictures, for months now. It was nice to hug him, no matter how wet he was. It sorta reminded her of home.

Maggie smiled. "I thought you two didn't get along."

"We don't," the two spoke simultaneously.

"It's a sibling thing," Freddie replied.

Maggie and Cataleya finished setting out the food when Freddie came back downstairs minus the hat and in dry clothes. They talked to each other, she and her brother and his wife and child, for what seemed like hours. She told him all she could, since she wasn't sure what parts he'd left out of discussions with Margaret. She shared things about her time in Mexico, minus the stealing and almost getting killed, and about how she felt so much better than she had in years.

Freddie was happy for her, although he couldn't help but be worried. She'd told him all those months ago that she couldn't come home yet because of the things she was involved in. He wondered if that still plagued her behind that smile.

Cataleya thanked Maggie for dinner and made her way to the door, Freddie close behind to walk her out.

"Hey, how are you really doing?" He spoke, looking down at his younger sister and ignoring the way her smile slightly faltered.

"I'm doing great, really. There's still the whole issue with that thing... but I've been moving around. I'll be fine. Promise."

Freddie nodded before pulling her in for another hug and opening the door to let her out. "See you around?" He offered, leaning against the door frame as she stepped out into the light drizzle that fell.

"Yeah," she replied before turning toward the car and hearing the door shut behind her. 

Cataleya slid into the driver's seat, smiling to herself. Everything's gonna be just fine, she thought, right before the thin prick of a needle sliding into her neck put her to sleep.

°°°
a/n

HI HELLO, I POSTED A CHAPTER AND I'M SO CLOSE TO FINISHING THE OTHER ONE SO I CAN POST TWO IN A ROW TO MAKE UP FOR THIS HIATUS LOVE YOU HOPEFULLY THE NEXT ONE WILL BE UP TOMORROW!
tab, xoxo