Military Brat

Disclaimer: Don't own.

So, I finally got around to posting this. I've had this sitting on my hard drive for ages, but I haven't gotten around to updating anything lately. I seem to have hit a rut in life. This is inspired by my mom, who said that I was like a military brat when I told her I wished we lived downtown.

Captain Haddock glanced through his friend's open door as he passed it by, walked a few steps more, then backtracked to make sure he really saw what he really saw. "Tintin? What's with the suitcase?"

His friend Tintin was setting carefully folded clothes into a suitcase on his bed. "I'm going on a trip."

Captain Haddock furrowed his brow. "A trip? Since when? Why?"

"Because." Tintin said simply.

"Blue blistering barnacles Tintin! We've been back from San Theodores for all of two months, and already you're hopping off to who knows where! You're acting just like one of those stupid military brats, uncomfortable if you stay in one place for too long!"

Tintin froze in place, a small worn notebook that he always carried around but that the Captain had never seen the inside of in his hand. The Captain felt all righteous anger fade from him. "You… you are, aren't you?" Tintin gave the Captain a small smile before returning to his packing. It suddenly hit the captain full force how little he really knew about his best friend. "I'm sorry if I hit a nerve Tintin. I'll leave now."

"No."

Captain Haddock turned back around to see that Tintin had moved to the window, and was now looking down into the gardens. Tintin went on with what he was saying.

"My father was more of a mercenary then anything. Hitman for hire you might say. He dragged us all to latest scene of political unrest, milked it for all he could, then moved on. By the time I was seven I had lived in five different countries, not to mention all the separate towns.

"Then when I was ten my mother died of malaria. We were in Africa at the time. My father started drinking. It didn't affect his job though. If anything, it made him even more ruthless. But he was a violent drunk. My siblings and I started sleeping outside if we could so he couldn't find us. This went on for six years. But one night I had to run to get some medicine for my brother."

Tintin's voice started to shake. "But when I got back, my father was leaning over my little sister's bed crying, a bloody knife in his hand. Marie was dead. Something in me snapped. I knew I needed to get out. I stayed around for the funeral, but the morning after I was gone. I was sixteen."

Tintin finished, and there was several minutes' silence. Captain Haddock turned to go. "Well, keep in touch."

Tintin smiled at him. "Don't worry, I will."

When the Captain looked into Tintin's room the next morning, he was gone. To avoid awkward goodbyes, he had left some time in the night. The Captain looked around the room, noticing that Tintin hadn't left anything. Almost as if he wasn't planning on coming back, at least not any time soon. The only thing left was a slip of paper on top of the bureau.

Picking it up, the Captain realized that it was a photograph of two little boys, nearly identical but with subtle differences. Flipping it over, he found some writing.

Alexander & Thomas, age 9.

And under that, in the messy script of a young boy:

Tintin and Auric.

And suddenly Captain Haddock knew why Tintin would be gone for a while this time.

Reviews please.