TW: Eludes to smut but not really
—Zane's P.O.V.—
"...We need to talk,"
My eyes shoot open, and I dart up from my bed.
"Well, well," I quickly regain my expected composure, "She can speak for herself. Or is this Astor's doing?" I say, quietly chuckling to myself, loud enough to make sure she can hear it on the receiving end, "Either way, what do I owe the pleasure of such an early morning call?"
"Cut that shit out. If Astor knew I was calling he'd kill me, and Syrus would pass out, so no unnecessary teasing and torment," She sounds awake, like she's been that way for hours. Her energy makes the frustration in her voice all the more noticeable, "I need you to stop being a snarky ass sadistic fucker and listen to me. We need to talk about what you've been doing. EVERYTHING you've been doing to me, Astor, and Syrus,"
(Y/N)'s being quite direct. She's pissed and is clearly ready to fight.
It's nice to know the real you, (Y/N). You're just as vicious as I read about.
"Alright, let's talk," I sit up properly now, "How shall we start?"
"We start in person," I can hear her walk across the room she's in, "Today I'll be at a bar by the arena we dueled in last night. I'll be there at 10 a.m. The bar is called The Scarlet Lady, and if someone else were to come in at the same time and sit next to me at the counter, I wouldn't be apposed to be discussing our current dilemma. You read me?"
"Loud and clear," I smirk and look at the clock near by bed. 8:32, plenty of time, "See you there,"
"Don't dress like yourself," (Y/N) says quickly, "I don't need anyone seeing and recognizing us. Can you do that?"
"I think I can manage," I chuckle.
— BEEEEEEE—
That bitch hung up on me.
———
My clock now reads 9:45, I have just enough time to get there.
As I pass to my front door, I catch myself in the mirror. Instead of wearing all black leather, like expected from my dueling outfits, I'm wearing a grey hoodie, green converse, jeans, and a dark red shirt. My hair is long enough to have it in a low ponytail and a baseball cap on top of that.
I hardly recognize myself. Perfect.
—
I walk to The Scarlet Lady, my car would be too conspicuous. If a day drinker had as nice a car as I do, people would definitely stare.
As I turn the corner, I see a woman with a pale blue, shoulder length wig on, and immediately recognize it as the wig (Y/N) wore last night. It looked real enough to just be her natural hair but dyed, but it was definitely her.
She's kind of hard to forget.
As I open the bar door myself, a little bell goes off. Only a few people look over to me, but that's only because there are only a few people in the bar. Not a lot of people day drink here, I guess.
I look over to the bartender. The woman in her early twenties looks over at me and blushes. As her cheeks turn red she almost drops her glass and stutters. Definitely willing to submit.
I should note that for later.
As the woman behind the bar stutters, the woman sitting in front of her looks over that the reason the bartender is acting like that.
(Y/N)'s eyes land in me. However they don't stay for long as they soon roll. She turns back to the woman in front of her, "Mary, can you get two beers and bring them over to booth three?"
Mary, the barkeep, nods quickly and dives behind the counter to get the bottles. While she does that, (Y/N) turns to a booth isolated from the rest of the bar, and cocks her head from me to the booth, signaling for me to follow.
I do, for now.
(Y/N) sits down and I set myself down across the table. Mary brings the beers over. As (Y/N) thanks her, I wink at the woman setting the bottles down. She walks away flustered. Oh, later will be fun.
"So, you seem pretty friendly around here, though I wonder if they even know your real name," I say, reaching for a beer, "I like that girl over there. Tell me, do you know if she's good in be- hey!"
I was interrupted when (Y/N) slaps my hand away from the bottle I'm reaching for, "what was that for?" I whine, while is rub my stinging hand.
"Both are for me, jackass," she sighs, "As if I would pay for your drink after everything," She pops off the top of the bottle I was reaching for and takes a sip, "Anyway, I'm not here to buy you a drink, I told you to meet me here because  you think you have the right to tear your brother from a healthy environment and into your toxic care,"
I stare at her and blink with genuine confusion.
"You aren't nearly as scared as you were before," I say, "You we're practically shaking last night, you looked like you were in the verge of tears. Now you're direct, making eye contact, even swatting me away. Quite the turnaround," I continue, thinking out loud more than anything.
"Well, it helps to know you're not gonna act on your threats from yesterday," she smirks, "And knowing that you're not gonna affect my income is definitely a confidence booster,"
"And how do you know that?" I raise my eyebrow.
"Astor has you breaking and entering on tape for one," (Y/N) raises a finger, "And I genuinely think you're too good of a person to cause something that could potentially hurt Syrus. After everything Astor and Syrus told me last night makes me think that you're all bark and no bite when it comes to him. Gives me a little hope that you're not a complete monster," (Y/N) puts her hand down as Mary makes her way back to the table, carrying another bottle. This time, however, the alcohol is a bottle of straight gin.
"Thanks Mary," (Y/N) says as she hands the bartender the empty bottle of beer.
"No problem, Mellissa!" Mary says. Then she turns to me, "Can I getcha anything cutie?"
"Just root beer for me, it's still early," I look over at (Y/N) to see her already halfway done with her second beer, her other hand tightly cliched around her next drink.
"Coming right up," Mary winks at me and blushes.
"What's with all the booze, Mellissa? It's barely ten?" I turn my attention to her fully, "I mean, I know you have a little problem with flammables but Jesus Christ. And you think I'm bad for Syrus...."
"At least with me Syrus doesn't actively hate himself or constantly question his self worth. He knows I love him, and don't want him to change to fit my image of what he should be. Now with you... totally different story," She glares at me, "And enough with the cryptic comments. We get it! You know what I did! And believe it or not, Kaiser, I don't regret it. I figure you of all people would understand,"   (Y/N) puts down her second empty beer and opens her small bottle of gin.
"And why would I understand you?" I tilt my head to the side. As (Y/N) gets more and more intoxicated she gets bolder. Definitely more confusing than entertaining.
She opens her mouth but Mary comes over with my root beer and a cup of water, "Here you are," she hands me the cup, and turns to (Y/N), "And there you go," Mary takes the empty beer bottle and looks her watch, "I'll be back with your next gin in twelve minutes,"
"Thanks a million, Mary! You're Domino's sweetheart," (Y/N) tilts her bottle towards the woman walking back behind the bar.
"She times your alcohol consumption?" I raise my eyebrows, "You do this how often?"
"When I was younger I worked out a system to drink enough to get a little tipsy in the day without going overboard," (Y/N) explains, "Mary now knows how to serve me so I feel warm and fuzzy while still being a functioning member of society. My mental capacity is still at 100%. Why would I get shitfaced if I'm trying to negotiate the happiness of my friend? How stupid do you think I am?"
"Well, when I read your old police files it's said you were firey and violent the night your parents died. So I just figured you were an unstable drunk, especially when I saw how much you were coming here over the course of a week," As I continued to talk, (Y/N)'s face contorts into a look of pure disgust.
"See, see, this is what I'm taking about," She takes a swig from her gin, "You're going to the most terrible, unsettling lengths to get the person you love out of what you think is a terrible situation. This is what I mean when I said you'd get it! You're threatening me and judging me for actions that you are so clearly willing to take,"
"What the fuck are you taking about?" This girl is acting stranger and more bizarre by the second, "You burned you parents house down, killing them, and you're comparing that to me, not killing anyone in order to save my brother for the drunken mess I front of me? Does that seem fair? You acted out of revenge, I'm acting to save,"
"First of all, you're full of shit. You're not acting out of love or want to save Syrus. If you were you would take me to court and take legal action to get me away from Syrus, instead, you're using terrifying methods that are traumatizing Syrus to steal him back. You're not acting to save him, you're acting to make yourself feel better about you new shitty way of thinking," (Y/N)'s gin bottle is now empty and she reaches for her water, "You think that if you make Syrus see your point of view, and he joins and forgives you, that it will somehow justify all the things you regret. You're trying to right your wrongs so you can sleep at night..."
As she talks, I start to hear a ringing in my ear.
'She's wrong, she's wrong, she's wrong, sheswtongsheswrongsheswrongsheswrong....'
"Second of all, I wasn't acting in revenge, I killed my incredibly abusive parents to save my brother,"
The ringing stops, my head shoot up at her.
"You have a brother?" I haven't been stunned in a long time, so this revelation has me frozen.
"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't know," (Y/N) nods, "He has no birth certificate or files on him, and he's usually at home. When you told me and Astor you were digging through my shit, I was surprised you didn't threaten him, so I put two and two together," (Y/N) makes eye contact with me, her (e/c) irises look beyond my eyes, like their peering into me, this sends shivers up my spine.
Caught me by surprise and is now trying to get the upper hand.
Smart, but I can't let that happen.
"So a child who doesn't exist in any government files is in your undocumented care?" I regain a sadistic smirk, time for me to gain some leverage, "Do you know what the media would do to you? So what if you killed your parents to protect your brother? You think you won't face consequences for this?"
"You're not gonna tell anyone this, and you're not gonna get me arrested and my brother thrown into the system," She continues to stare at me, unwavering, "And do you wanna know why?"
I pick up my root beer and take a sip, "Enlighten me,"
"Because Syrus would never forgive you,"      (Y/N) finishes her water as my face slowly stops smirking and my blood runs cold, "If you take that path and and continue to hurt everyone around Syrus, he'll hate you forever. No matter what you do, no matter how much you try to convince him otherwise, he'll hate you. If you hurt me, or more importantly, the ten year old he sees as family, he won't see you as anything but a manipulative monster,"
A striking pain stabs through me as I picture Syrus looking at me that way he did when he first me the woman sitting across from me. This is a pain I refuse to welcome.
"And anyway," (Y/N) continues, "Even if you tried to get Shroud on board with your P.R. plan, we can just show him the footage of you breaking in to Astor's house and threatening him, and your rep will shut your plan down,"
"If you knew all this, why the fuck would you try to meet with me?" I ask, "You could have just waited for this all to play out and I wouldn't have found out about your brother. This way, you're still losing," The more I talk to this girl, the less I understand.
"I'm meeting with you because when Syrus found out that you were attempting to blackmail me in order to get him back, he got hopeful. Wether he wants to acknowledge it or not, he loves you and still wants your approval. Sy has made it very vocal that he wants you to be in a better place emotionally, so he made a plan to help you," (Y/N) looks at her watch, "In about a week we'll have a rematch, at the after party, Syrus and his friend Jaden Yuki will approach you. Sy will continue to try to spend time with you, and Jaden will always be with you guys, so don't try anything. Syrus wants to help you, but until you see me as an ally instead of a threat I don't think you can be helped,"
My eyes are widening as I process this new information, "He wants to help me?"
"Don't get me wrong, he's pissed," she raises her hands, "but you guys are family, and while Syrus has been living with us, he's learned that he can't just abandon his blood. I would be a hypocrite if I taught him that and didn't stand by him on this. I think his plan is reckless, and I think if left unattended it will end badly, so I'm telling you now, that Syrus loves you, but he won't help you if you continue to hurt everyone else he loves. You have to start working with me if you wanna be close to your brother, you just have to," As she wraps up her sentence, Mary comes over with (Y/N)'s second gin.
"You want the check soon?" She turns to me, "Separate checks I hope," Mary shoots me a sultry eye, and I can't help but smirk.
"You would hope right, Mar," (Y/N) says, "We're nearly done. Checks in like ten minutes okay?"
Mary nods and walks away.
"We're almost done are we?" My confusion returns and it becomes harder and harder to stay on my toes.
"Yes," (Y/N) nods, "I'll finish saying this. You and I are more similar than either of us would like to admit. We've both done terrible things in the name of the people we love, and sometimes it's hard to live with that.
Syrus is going to offer a lifeline, and you need to take it. But understand this," She stares me down and puts her last empty bottle in the table, "I will be helping to keep you afloat for Syrus, and if you keep resisting that, or try to hurt me or anyone around me, I'll stop, and Syrus won't last long if I'm not there to help. Hell, if I can barley handle you at your most sadistic, there's no way Sy will. So if you're going to take away anything from this experience take this, you and I will be meeting after every interaction you have with your brother. I want to get both sides of the story with these meetings, so I can chart your progress. If you hurt Syrus, or try to take him, I will call this entire plan off and you will never forgive yourself. I would know,"
I let her words sink in as (Y/N) gets up for her check. I grab her wrist before she completely passes the booth.
I choose to let my guard down, just this once, "He really wants to help me?"
She senses the tone shift and looks back at me with a genuine smile. It's small, but I catch it, "More thank you realize," her smile fades, and she tears her arm away, "Don't fuck it up,"
And with that, she leaves.
.....
"Here's your check sir," Mary hands me a slip of paper, it's got the bill and her number.
"I like it when you call me 'sir'," I reply and smirk as I look up, and Mary blushes.
"I didn't mind it either," She leans down, "You know, I could comp your drink if you help me out in the back," her eyes narrow and her smile grows, "Think you can handle it?"
With everything I just learned, I could blow off some steam, "I'm game, lead the way,"

——(Y/N)'s P.O.V.——

Okay, lot to process.
I walk back into my apartment at 11:00, the boys have yet to return.
"Guess they went to see a movie," I say out loud, "Maybe they'll get lunch afterwards, Nicky did seem exited about the ramen,"
Even mentioning Nicky aloud right now makes me shake to my very core. Talking about the fire with another person hasn't happened in a while, and I'm still in shock.
'Might as well dig up the past while the wounds are open. It's been awhile shined I looked at that stuff anyway,'
I sigh and walk to my room, open my closet, and pull out the box I have stashed behind the baseboard.
I sit on my bed and stare that the cigar box in front of me, tapping my knee, waiting for the courage to open it.
In one swift motion, I remove the lid of the box. Inside the wooden capsule I find six things.
Two newspaper clippings regarding the fire, my eleven year old mugshot, the letter from my grandmother saying she smuggled Nicky out of the house safely without getting caught, my fathers old dog tags, and a photo of a seven year old me holding Nicky as a baby.
I open the letter for the first time in a year:
——
(Y/N),
We did it. Nicky is safe, he hasn't asked where your parents are, he's only been asking for you. I told him you were at summer camp, can you imagine? I told him you were canoeing and making friends, and he can't wait for you go get back.
I can't thank you enough for taking the fall. Three months is a long time for you to be in Juvie, but if I had set the fire, you two would have nowhere to go. I'm glad you understood that. The police came by and questioned me, but now I'm in the clear, and you are now officially in my custody.
When the police saw the bruises on you're body, they chalked your bad behavior up to child abuse. They weren't exactly wrong, now were they? But we got you two out of that home, and they aren't coming back. They can't hurt you anymore, and because of you, Nicky will grow up in a loving house.
I wish you had had that option as well.
Since your parents didn't document Nicky's birth, or residence, and didn't bother to put him in school, he can't quite visit you, but he is counting down the days till you get back. So am I.
We need to figure out how to move Nicky forward in society even though he lacks the essentials.
I want him to get an education, I want him to have friends, and I need your help for that to happen.
Miss you kiddo,
Nana
——

Tears stain the letter. As soon as I see the stains, I tilt my head away, trying not the smudge the ink.
"Miss you too, Nana,"

......

I fold the letter back into the envelope, and grab the clippings next.

'Local House Set Ablaze: Two Casualties, daughter responsible for her parents death'
...
Continued on page 1-B

Well, that sure brings me back down to earth.

......

I stare at my mugshot next to my fathers old dog tags.
I remember the day he came home for good. He was kicked out of the army for cruel punishments on his cadets for training.
He wasn't the same when he returned, and my mother told him to channel his energy into raising me. Nice call, mom.
I look over to me as an eleven year old, holding up the panel with the date and number on it. My eyes as angry as my fathers the day he came back.
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I suppose.

......

With everything else tucked neatly in the box again, I hold the last thing the resided in it, my only family photo.
I'm covered head to toe in bandaids and taped on cotton pads, Nicky looking up at me in my arms.
Even as a seven year old, I look tired, heavy bags under my lifeless eyes.
It may not look like it, but when I was holding Nicky in my arms, I felt life, for the first time in a while. I felt connection, I felt the inescapable urge to protect my family.
The day I held him was the day I decided Nicky deserved better than our parents.
The letter my grandmother sent to me in jail showed that I wasn't alone in that fight, the clippings remind me of what I did, that it wasn't all for the best. My mugshot, his dog tags, they prove that I am my fathers daughter, that I can't escape them completely. That photo reminds me that I will always protect the people I love.

———

I hide the box behind the baseboard once again, and flop down on my bed.
I wonder if Kaiser has his own box. An unofficial record of everything his ever done, of who he was, who he is. Something to ground him to the reality of the things he's done.
Maybe he has a box, and inside is a picture of Syrus. Maybe he looks in the box every once in a while, reminds himself why he's hurting people.
He must have something like that to keep him going, considering everything he's done.
Maybe we are more alike.
I wonder if my words had any affect on him, if when he let his guard down, he was just putting in an act.
I wonder if he's willing to work with me at all.

*Click*

"We're back!" Syrus yelled from the front door.
"(Y/N)! You here?" Jaden calls in the living room.
I force myself up from my bed and walk out of my room, "Yeah, I'm here. Where'd you guys go? You were gone for a while,"
Nicky ran up to me holding a bag, "We went to the card shop and Jaden got some new booster packs and found a good spell for his deck! Then he gave the rest to me so I can start my own. Isn't that cool of him?"
I turn to Jaden, "Nice of you to get him started," I smile and look back at my brother, "Now we can get you a deck box too,"
"That sounds awesome!" Nicky looked back up at me, "then we went to a movie, and then we stopped at the ramen place on the way home. Alice says hi, by the way,"
Alice is one of the sweet old women who prepares the noodles there, and when we first moved into the building, she set us up with half off soup.
"And while we were there, I figured you would be hungry later, so I ordered you your favorite!" Nicky smiles extra wide as he hands me the bag. At this moment my stomach decides to growl.
"Guess you were right, kid," I chuckle and head to the kitchen to get a soda, "thanks for doing this, Nicky,"
I sit down on the couch, and Nicky sits next to me, picking up the remote as Syrus and Jaden sit in the floor next to the couch.
"No problem, I was just looking out for you. That what family does right?" Nicky looks up at me.
I smile back at him and ruffle his hair as Nicky leans on my shoulder, turning the TV on.

"Yeah buddy, that's what family does,"

———————
And that's a wrap!
Word count: 4206