// Praise for gilgameshforeternity who obviously is the creator of all Kable/Simon fics. I also think it's unfair because how is anyone supposed to live up to the cuteness that is Aftermath. Kable/Simon has a strange addiction to it and I was wondering if anyone could list the reasons why this couple is so damn drool worthy? I would love comments if you have the time.//
He had been looking into the death of his wife when his daughter was murdered. Sitting there checking through the camera footage of the hit and run, looking for anything he could have missed when he got a news update. A bomb had gone off at Delia's school and everyone had still been inside. He'd only taken her in a few hours earlier.
He reread the article several times, the shock making him feel numb inside until eventually the old fashioned computer they still dubbed as passable in community libraries blurred. That was everyone. Everyone he knew was dead and he couldn't even feel anything about it.
Breathing was seriously starting to hurt, he thought in slight hysteria. There was a picture of the destruction. No one was getting out of that alive. Then his mobile rang, he figured it was someone calling to tell him what happened. He didn't recognise the ID. He wasn't sure why he even picked it up. He was pretty sure he didn't want to hear this. That it would make him finally come out of his shock.
"Daddy?" He heard a small voice say on the line. Strange, it sounded exactly like Delia. He swallowed roughly, tears slipping despite himself. He tried to speak, but nothing came out. "Hello?"
"Delia?" He gasped, clutching the mobile to his ear, his knuckles turning white.
"Yep!" She said happily.
"Where are you?" He asked quickly, already jumping up and heading out the library.
"I don't know. Where are we?" She asked someone and that made him worry.
"Hey, everything's cool. She's with me." Another more male voice sounded over the phone.
"Who?" He demanded.
The voice chuckled. "Aren't you getting tired of asking me that?"
"Simon! Where are you and why do you have Delia." He demanded.
"Dude, calm down, I live at Waterbridge estate. Hail a taxi and don't worry I'll pay for it, just get here." Simon ordered lightly. "Do you want to talk to your daughter again?"
"Is that a threat?" He growled, he was surprised by a puff of shocked laughter in his ear. He hailed a cab and told him the direction to go in.
"No," and he could hear the smile in the boy's voice. "Look I'm just trying to help. I'm not sure what you're afraid I might do... but come on, I'm a kid who plays games. Do you really think I'm dangerous?"
"Delia's school gets blown up and she somehow ends up with you. That's suspicious in my book." He growled. There was an awkward silence.
"I didn't know..." He said quietly. "That explains the mess she was in when Kate brought her to me."
"Is Delia hurt?"
"No! no no no! I mean she has a few scratches but mostly she was just covered in dirt. Like I said before you went all slayer on my ass. You can talk to her, on the phone again. Just, here..." He huffed impatiently.
" Hey dad," She said cheerfully.
"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked again.
***
When he got to Simon's he should have been amazed but he'd seen bigger houses than this belonging to Castle. The door opened and Delia rushed out still holding the mobile connected to his as he switched it off. He'd been so glad Simon had let him talk to Delia the whole way over because he was sure if he'd stopped he would have been afraid he'd hallucinated the whole thing.
Now his little girl was in his arms, he felt relief tumble through him and he couldn't stop planting little kissed all over her face. He heard a cough from the driver behind him waiting to be paid and saw that no one had followed Delia out.
"Simon said to give you this." Delia giggled. She passed him a note and that was way too much money. "He said the driver should keep the change." Passing the driver the note so he too could notice how much and he nodded, quickly high tailing it out of there in case they changed their mind.
Delia was fresh out the shower and outfitted in clothes that were too big for her and were obviously meant for a teenage boy. Otherwise she seemed perfectly fine. Lowering her back down, she tugged his hand and led him in. A lady dressed in a sharp suit was waiting for them. Her lips pressed in an even sharper line.
"We're ready to go back now." Delia told her and Kable was about to tell his daughter she should mind her manners when he was interrupted.
"Yes, Miss. This way please." She said. Pursing her lips, but trying otherwise to be as well mannered as possible when being told what to do by a little girl. They were led through the house and out the back where he found there was a smaller house attached. The woman left them there and Delia pulled him excitedly inside.
He could see immediately why Delia loved it. While he and Angie have only been able to afford small apartments, this was a kid's dreamland. A boy was waiting inside; he quickly stood up when they came in.
"Hey, Kable." There was the voice, spilling from his lips. This was Simon. He was older than he'd expected but then again it had been two years since they had spoken in the game. Simon must be around 19 now. Now he had Delia in his arms, there was something else he should ask.
"What about the other kids?" He asked.
Simon shrugged. "I don't know. You'll have to ask Delia."
He looked down at his daughter and frowned. He didn't want to ask her if it traumatised her. "What happened today at school?"
"The teachers started acting funny." She said accusingly. "Then I had to get all dirty because they made everyone climb through a drain underneath the school. Only I got lost and everyone went ahead without me. When I finally got out I couldn't see anyone and I didn't know what to do. That woman in the suit said she recognised me and that she might know how to get in touch with you. I was so scared. She wasn't very nice but Simon's is awesome." She beamed up at the boy and Kable smirked. His daughter had developed a crush.
"The teacher's must have figured out there was a bomb and left through the sewers in case the people who had planted it, saw them trying to leave and detonated it early." Simon supplied. "What kind of sick twisted freaks would blow up a school full of little kids?"
"But this might actually make sense." Simon continued after a moment of silence. "People have been dying Kable. Kyra and Trace are dead. I think someone's killing everybody that had to do with what happened to Castle. I think they're after you and your daughter as well."
Suddenly, he pulled out his wallet and handed it to Kable. "You can't go back home. They'll probably have found out the kids got out alive by now and are waiting for you. Here's all the money I have on me. I think it's enough to get you started on a new life."
"How do you know all this? What aren't you telling me?" Kable accused. Simon sounded like he was summarising rather than figuring out a plot that could lead to him and his daughter being killed. Then he jumps to help? Kable was sure Simon probably knew a lot about what was going on even before the school was blown up.
"You know what I'm saying is true. You probably figured it out on the way over."Simons said briefly.
"What about you?" Kable asked.
"What about me?" Simon responded with a shrug of his shoulders.
"You were in the mess with Castle as well." Kable said simply. "They'll be after you as well."
"Don't worry about me." Simon whispered. He said it calmly but there was opaqueness in his eyes that he had seen in the eyes of all the Slayers at one point. Simon knew he was going to die and had accepted it. It was terrifying to see on someone so young. That's when he made his decision.
"No!" Simon shouted suddenly and Kable looked at him confused. He moved forward and reached out to the teenager. "I can't come with you." He wondered how Simon knew what he had been about to ask but it didn't matter because he wasn't leaving him here to die. He lifted the boy in a fireman lift and took him to the door.
"Please, no. I can't leave, you don't understand!" Simon squirmed and cried. They passed under the doorframe and that's when the screaming started. Simon screamed in unbelievable pain, causing Delia to scream watching him writhe.
Putting him down quickly on the ground, Kable couldn't see anything wrong. Yet Simon didn't stop and he was helpless to help him.