AN: This story can be read as a follow on from 'Moving On' or it works as a stand-alone too, I'll leave it up to you. Enjoy!
Officially he was dead. That meant no bank account, no tax file number, no way to earn a legitimate living. What that left was crime, and the drug trade was something Brax knew well. He'd spent his late teens and most of his twenties up to his eyeballs in the dope trade trying to provide a better life for his family.
Dealing drugs was a quick way to make a lot of cash and with nothing left to lose he drove a hard bargain.
With wads of cash for all the right people, he made his way to south east Asia off the grid, and from there a counterfeit passport was a mere ten grand.
With the passport, the world was his oyster and currently he found himself in London. It was the only other place in the world besides Summer Bay or Mangrove River that he felt remotely close to Casey. However brief their visit had been, his brother had been happy here. A passing double decker tourist bus caused a ghost of a smile to form on his lips because it reminded him of Casey's childlike enthusiasm when he'd been faced with the prospect of a whole new city to explore. He wished he'd paid more attention back then, maybe even shared some of that enthusiasm with his brother. If he'd known what was coming he could've cherished every second.
London was like any city, scratch the surface, speak to the right people and there was plenty of cash to be made off the books.
So that's what he did until he found himself in a bit of hot water and the company of law enforcement. Of one lawyer's intern in particular. Linda Somerset.
He liked Linda. She was smart and didn't take shit from anyone. She knew what she wanted and she went for it. But there was a compassionate side to her too and he found her easy to get along with. He thought that might be because they were both outsiders to some extent, he suspected she had a secret too. Maybe not as extreme as his, a son and two brothers left behind on the other side of the world, but something that had hardened her just a little to the cruel ways of the world.
Now, it was purely by chance that he discovered the nature of her secret. Without a beach all he could do was walk to clear his head and on a walk through Hyde Park whilst trying to lose himself amongst the crowds of nameless people enjoying the summer sun, he came across her, watching a little boy as he fed the ducks. From the doting look on her face he knew this child belonged to her.
Quietly and comfortably he slipped onto the bench beside her. Despite their different walks of life they'd always shared a strange, unspoken understanding. She allowed him the seat with a quirk of her lips. He knew she liked him too.
"What's his name?"
She kept her eyes on the child as she answered, smiling and waving at the boy who had turned to check if his mother was still watching.
With his own eyes on the boy as he turned and revealed his face, Brax was suddenly transported back to his teens when another little boy with those same big blue eyes had smiled at him just like that.
"Casey. I named him after his father actually."
"Where's his father now?" he asked thickly, knowing there was no such thing as a coincidence.
"I don't know. He was Australian, like you. He went home and I never saw him again."
"He abandoned you," Brax tested, but he knew Casey couldn't have known, he'd never have walked away from something like this.
"Not exactly. Something happened. We stayed in touch for a little while but he closed down on me and that was it."
"Do you know his last name?"
"No," she said with a wistful smile. "We didn't talk about personal things. I think he liked the escape. He was only in town for a few days, came over with his brothers for some reason..."
Brax pulled out his wallet which contained a dog-eared photo of his little brother.
"Is this Casey's father?" As soon as he saw her shocked face when she looked at the photo, he knew for sure that this was Casey's son.
"How?" She breathed, finally looking up at him, amazement in her hazel eyes.
"He's my brother."
"Did you come looking for us?" Her voice held a note of hope, telling Brax he'd been right in his assumption that life hadn't been easy for her. It was the plea of someone who'd been battling the world alone for too long, a struggle he knew all too well.
"No. I had no idea he had a son. Believe me I'd have been here sooner if I'd known."
"Where is he now? Is he with you?"
Brax shook his head. "He died a few years ago."
"Oh," she said sadly, gazing over at her son once more. "I'm sorry to hear that, he was a wonderful person. I'd hoped they'd get the chance to meet one day."
"Case would've loved that. I'm sorry you fell out of touch."
"What happened to him? Was he sick? Was that what made him change?"
Brax shook his head again.
"He found out another man was his father, that we were only half-brothers. Family meant everything to us, it was hard for him to take. He lost himself for a while." And here was a piece of his family he hadn't even known existed. And maybe a second chance... "Can I hold him?"
"If he'll let you." She held her hand out and beckoned the boy over. "Casey, come and say hello to a friend of mummy's."
Young Casey came over to her like he'd been asked but he was a little wary of the stranger with her. He hid his face behind her just like Casey used to do when he was that age.
"Hey little fella," Brax managed to say around the lump in his throat. "I knew your dad when he was a little tacker like you. And I'll bet you like cars too, huh?"
From his pocket he pulled the only thing he had left of Casey, a beat up toy car that his kid brother had adored.
He held it out, the boy tentatively accepting his offering.
"Where are your manners Casey?"
He lifted those well-known blue eyes to meet Brax's.
"Thank you." And the kid even sounded like Case despite his English accent. Seeing the toy in the hands of Casey's son threatened to overwhelm him. The kid was so much like Case in his looks and actions, he hardly dared believe that he might really get the chance to fix his past mistakes.
"Are you sad?" the boy asked, his sympathy and obvious concern another trait he shared with his lost father.
"No," he sniffed with an honest smile, hastily brushing away the lone tear that had escaped down his cheek. "Come here so we can have a proper look at that car." Casey stepped closer and he pulled the boy onto his lap, like he done so many times with his little brother, when they were children and one or both of them needed the comfort.
As Casey pointed out the various features on the toy, Brax caught Linda watching them with an encouraging smile.
"You know what else I bet you like? Chocolate ice cream." Casey's young face lit up.
"I knew it," Brax said setting him back on the ground and standing up. He turned back to Linda who was watching him with all the same emotions in her eyes that were battling within him but the most prominent one was hope.
Now he knew why life had pushed him to the limits of what any man could be asked to endure and left him with nothing but a drive to get as far away from everything as he could. He understood that he hadn't been running away from anything, but that he had been moving towards something. Towards the only thing that could possibly complete him. The most precious person in his life had left a piece of himself behind for him to find. And maybe Linda had found the missing piece of her puzzle too.
He offered her his hand and she took it, sliding her delicate hand into his strong one. When he reached down to take Casey's hand, the little fella reached up and wrapped his small fingers around just one of Brax's and with that achingly familiar gesture, one he'd felt over twenty years ago in a little house in Mangrove River, he finally felt like he was allowed to start again.