Hey, it's a new story in the Suffer the Children 'verse. This one falls between On the Back of a Broken Dream and Just a Man.

Un-beta'ed, so quibble away.

- o – o -

Toy Shop Madness

Having an axle on a wagon break was not Miles' idea of a good time. He wanted to get back to Philadelphia as quickly as possible. The sooner his niece and nephew were in the most protected city in the Monroe Republic, the better. The broken axle on their wagon was just delaying things, and that was unacceptable.

Still, there was an upside to it, Miles had to admit. He'd spent the past two weeks getting to know his niece and nephew a bit better. Charlie liked bright colors, and he'd sworn she was going to die from happiness when he'd dug a sparkly butterfly hairclip out of the loot for her. She'd been tying her hair back with a ragged strip of old blanket, but the hairclip was special. His niece had been glowing with happiness as he'd helped her pin her hair back with the butterfly. Charlie was taking incredibly good care of the hairclip, despite the fact that it would take a serious bating before she'd manage to inflict any kind of real damage to it.

Danny, on the other hand, was quieter and more serious than his older sister. He was also suspicious of everything—a realist to Charlie's optimist, Miles decided. It was a painful reminder of the relationship he'd had with Ben. Ben was like Charlie, always trying to find the good in the bad, even if there was no chance of the good being found. Danny, on the other hand, apparently had to struggle to see anything good. Miles kind of approved of the attitude, but in a twelve-year-old who should have been playing and laughing and just beginning to worry if girls liked him or if they still had cooties, it was sad.

Miles had no idea what his nephew would play with, or even what he'd like. From every interaction he'd seen, Danny was a bit like a plant to Charlie's sun. He thrived when his older sister was happy, and became wilted and miserable the second Charlie looked like she might be sad. Danny's whole world revolved around his sister. That, at least, was something. If Charlie was happy, Danny was happy and less likely to glare at people. (Still, he had a point. Miles had seen the bruises, some of which he knew wouldn't fade for months, just going by the colors they were.)

But he had a broken wagon and several hours—maybe a few days—to kill while he waited for either the wagon to be fixed or for a new one to be found. Although if they had to find a new one, he'd get a proper carriage for his niece and nephew to ride in; something more comfortable than sitting on their little nest of blankets in the wagon that had broken down…

The general sighed as he watched his second-in-command haggling with the blacksmith over a new axle and trudged off to find Charlie and Danny. He'd left them with the convoy of his soldiers, all of whom had instructions to slip the niblets treats—mostly dried fruit and soft bread that was easy to chew—the second either of them looked the least bit hungry. They weren't there. Before he could rage at his men for losing the siblings, he saw them peering into a shop window. Danny was holding his older sister's hand, as usual, but his nose and free hand were pressed against the glass. Charlie looked just as entranced. Miles smiled, figuring the store was probably selling more food than either of them had seen in their entire lives. He walked over and loomed over them to peer into the shop.

It was filled with toys. Some of them were pre-blackout, but most of them were new, handmade things. Miles felt his heart plummet to the vicinity of his toes as he stepped back and saw the reaction of his niece and nephew to his presence. Charlie was clinging to Danny and chewing her lower lip, blue eyes wide in fear. Danny was pressed up against his sister's side, eyes filling up with frightened tears.

Miles dug a smile up for them, kneeling down so he was closer to their eye-level. "Would you like to go inside?" he asked gently. Charlie shared a look with her younger brother for a few minutes, before giving him a shy smile and a quick nod. Miles smiled at them and held the door open for them so they could walk inside.

He leaned against the counter and watched the solemn duo walk around, examining the toys closely. Every so often, they'd shoot a look over at him. Once or twice, they'd traded off, shielding the other from his gaze. Miles guessed they were trying to hide the fact that they were touching the toys, which broke the already shattered pieces of his heart a little further.

After a few minutes, Miles had had enough of watching the niblets try to hide the fact that they were picking up toys to examine them on a closer level. He walked over to them and pulled a soft, plush wolf off one of the top shelves. He passed it to Danny and looked over at Charlie.

"The two of you can get a toy, if you like. Bring it to me when you find what you want," he instructed them, tone a bit gruff. Miles watched Charlie scurry off towards one of the lower shelves where the cheap, ugly wooden dolls were. Danny stayed behind for a few seconds, face buried in the plush fabric of the toy Miles had passed him. Miles could see his nephew's hands clutching tightly at the soft toy, kneading into the wolf's body. He was surprised when Danny gave him the toy.

"Thank you for letting me hold it," Danny whispered, before scurrying off to his sister's side. Miles sat back on his heels, still holding the plush toy in one hand. Even though Danny was examining the cheaper toys with his sister—Miles suspected they were trying to figure out which was the cheapest and sturdiest—he did look back several times to look at the plush wolf. Miles sighed and put the wolf back on the shelf he'd grabbed it from.

He didn't imagine Danny's sigh of disappointment, or the slump to the twelve-year-old's shoulders.

Charlie pulled her younger brother over a few minutes later, clutching a doll in her arms. It was a featureless wooden thing with an equally featureless, shapeless dress. Danny was holding the other one—the dolls were part of a matched set. Miles sighed in annoyance and took the dolls. He'd hoped his niece and nephew would test the limits of his generosity and get the toys they'd wanted, instead of these cheap, ugly things. He knew for sure that Danny had dearly wanted the grey wolf with the soft, squishy body. It would have been a great toy for a child in search of some comfort when nightmares hit…

Miles put the dolls on the counter and paid for them, glowering at the shopkeeper, who'd been shooting dark looks at Charlie and Danny, who were examining some of the pre-blackout toys with looks of intense concentration on their faces. Since the man had given him no cause for retribution, though, Miles had to let him live. If he'd made Danny or Charlie cry, though…

Well, that would have been a different story.

The general passed the toys to his niece and nephew, watching their faces light up with happiness. They rushed outside as soon as he told them they could go. Miles watched them until they vanished up into their temporary carriage, before he turned back to look at the toys. Charlie had been examining a beautifully made doll in fine clothes—it looked like a princess, which Miles found slightly amusing. He grabbed it off the shelf.

The wolf stared down at him from its high shelf. Miles thought it looked rather judgmental, as though it were ordering him to buy it or risk a hundred years of intense agony before an equally agonizing death in a fiery inferno. The general smiled at the toy and pulled it off the shelf. The shopkeeper put both toys in separate bags and pinned them shut as Miles laid out the money to pay for them.

The convoy did end up spending the night in the piddling little town. Danny and Charlie were safely ensconced in their room at the mayor's home when Miles slipped in. Both of them were fast asleep, back to back. Their ugly wooden dolls were clutched in a protective embrace. Miles had watched the niblets play with them all day—some variety of make-believe, with a bit of house thrown in. They'd had quite a bit of fun, and Miles had sworn he'd heard them giggle once or twice during their story telling.

He smiled at them as he pulled the bags open as quietly as possible. Charlie's new doll went on the bedside table on her side of the bed. Miles hesitated for a few seconds with the second bag, before he crept over to Danny's side of the bed, taking care not to step on any of the loose floorboards.

Miles slid the ugly wooden doll out of his nephew's arms and paused, holding his breath. Danny snuffled in his sleep, a minute frown creasing his face. Miles could almost see his nephew's unconscious mind trying to figure out the loss of the toy, and if it was worth waking up for. He smiled and slid the plush wolf into his nephew's embrace. Before he left the room, Miles smoothed Danny's hair away from his face.

Danny's face relaxed, and Miles swore he saw a sleepy smile curve the boy's mouth up as he shut the door again.

- o – o -

So, what did you think? Good? Bad? Think Miles is an awesome uncle? Drop a line and let me know!