Kids

Description: Tales from the Borderlands Roadtrip AU. For whatever reason, Rhys is a 'Child-Magnet'- kids just follow him wherever he goes. In this case, two orphans follow him back to the van and everyone is Very Concerned about whether or not to keep them. At least the kids are really damn cute.

A/N: So, big question: since Rhys is gonna be trans in this AU, would it be okay if when Jack is added that I have Rhys in some way get pregnant with Angel, or should I not? I'm mostly worried about upsetting anyone in the trans community, since I'm not trans myself and am not completely familiar with what is and isn't okay, so please tell me if I should or shouldn't. The last thing I'd wanna do is disrespect anyone! Please R&R!

It's the little boy with no legs on the skateboard that speaks up first. "Hi." He says, almost conversationally, like he's known everyone in the van for his whole life now.

"Um... Rhys?" Fiona turns to Rhys, because he's the only one home besides these two random-ass kids. "What the heck is going on? Who's kids are these?"

"We're homeless!" The little girl states, before Rhys can possibly hope to explain himself.

Fiona hadn't exactly expected to come back to the van to find two little kids and Rhys. Okay, she had sort of hoped to find Rhys, since he had been gone all morning without even a text to say whether or not he was okay. It's not like Fiona had been worried about him or anything- of course not, why would Fiona ever worry about Rhys? That would've been stupid- but to know that he's still alive definitely lets Fiona breathe a little easier. However, Rhys' well-being does not at all explain where the two little kids have come from. The first kid's a little boy with tan skin, only one russet eye, and no legs. He's still wearing pants- well, shorts really- but they're not exactly a good fit. He's also bald, and he would've been capable of hiding that fact fairly well, had it not been for the fact that his hat is far too big on him, proving useless as a shield.

The girl isn't much better off, looking to be a few years younger than the boy, possibly a toddler. She appears Chinese or of some Asian decent, with midnight black eyes and a small body frame. The girl is bald as well, but she covers it much better than the boy, wearing a large, brown bear hat. Finally, there's Rhys, who's sitting in a bean-bag chair- Athena's bean-bag chair, Fiona notes- with the little girl on his lap, his hand frozen on her head, as if he had been patting her on the head in a show of affection before Fiona had arrived. He has the expression of a deer caught in the headlights- frightened and shocked, unable to react, even when he really needs to. After shaking out of her stupor, Fiona tries to calm down, utterly failing. In the end, she slowly walks forward, sitting herself down beside Rhys, careful not to seem aggressive in front of the children. Who knows what they've been through?

"So... care explaining where exactly you found these guys?" Fiona asks, glancing between the girl and the boy, still completely confused.

"I'm actually not sure... I just kinda turned around and, boom, there they were..." Rhys looks away, chuckling nervously under his breath. He's scared, that much is certain. "And I kinda had no idea what to do, so I just sorta... brought 'em back to the van..." He refuses to meet Fiona's eyes after the explanation.

"Hi." The boy says again, doing nothing to help with the situation at all.

"Hi," Fiona repeats, hoping that that'll help to get the kid to release some actual information. If she's lucky, maybe she can get him to give her his parents' phone number. "You got a name, little buddy?" She figures 'Buddy' might be a good approach.

The boy pauses, scrunching his face in thought, before shrugging. "Loader-Bot." He offers up, simple as that.

Fiona blinks. Once. "Loader-Bot?" She questions, only receiving another nod from 'Loader-Bot' in response. With a sigh, she looks to the little girl, putting on a happy face for her. "Hey, sweetie," She coos, making her voice lighthearted and soft. "What's your name?"

The girl grins, cuddling a stuffed bear to her chest. Fiona recognizes it to be one of Rhys' old stuffies from when she and him had been kids. "I'm Gortys," The girl explains, snuggling up against Rhys as she gets more comfortable on his lap. "And that's Loader-Bot!" She adds, pointing to Loader-Bot, who waves at Fiona in confirmation.

"Should we, like... call someone about this?" Rhys asks, after a few minutes of silence. "I mean, shouldn't we be, like, calling Social Services, or-"

"-NO!" Gortys shouts, earning a jolt of surprise from both Fiona and Rhys. "I'm sorry," She mumbles in apology, after a beat of tense silence. "But... we can't go back there. They'll take Loader-Bot away, and I'll be all alone again!"

Rhys swallows, looking very, very concerned. "Shit," He groans under his breath, so only Fiona can hear him. "Now what do we do!?"

Fiona shifts in her seat, not knowing what to do. What do people even do in this situation? Call the the police!? Well, that obviously isn't an option, if Gortys' outburst is anything to go off of. But what else can they do? With a sigh of defeat, Fiona lets herself go limp into the bean-bag chair, closing her eyes in thought. "I guess we just... wait here until the others get back. Then we can ask all of them." She suggests, hoping that'll be enough.

"Are you sure we should?" Rhys questions, allowing Gortys to crawl out of his lap. She apparently thinks that Fiona's current position means 'Nap-Time', and she crawls onto the girl's chest at once, yawning as she curls into a ball and passes out.

At this, Fiona opens her eyes and stares at Gortys, Rhys doing the same. "Fuck, that's cute." Rhys mutters, looking very conflicted.

"Yeah... they're both kinda cute," Fiona agrees, glancing over at Loader-Bot, who has recently fallen asleep as well, curled into a ball and sucking his thumb. She feels her heart practically melt at the sight. "Okay, they're both REALLY cute."

Rhys swallows, on edge. "...Fiona?" He asks, quietly, as to not wake the kids.

"Yeah?" Fiona manages, trying to hide the break in her voice.

"We're fucked, aren't we?" Rhys asks, even though he seems pretty certain that they are.

"Yep." Fiona agrees, before groaning and closing her eyes again.

Athena sure as fuck won't be happy about this, but if Sasha and Vaughn get back first, Fiona is pretty sure that she and Rhys can win them over pretty quickly. And then it'll be four against one, and they'll HAVE to keep them. Fiona sighs, letting herself slowly drift off to sleep. Athena is definitely going to be pissed... but Fiona will be damned if she can't keep them for just a little bit longer.

"No." Athena deadpans, before Rhys or Fiona can even open their mouths to explain themselves.

"But-" Rhys tries, but Athena isn't done quite yet,

"Absolutely not. It was bad enough when Vaughn and Sasha tried to bring a wild squirrel in here- we are NOT kidnapping a bunch of little kids." Athena states, hoping that that'll be enough to end the argument.

"Hey, it wasn't my fault that squirrel got hit by a car! What was I supposed to do, leave him there to die!?" Vaughn questions, but he goes ignored.

"There's only TWO kids," Fiona explains, as if it isn't really that big of a deal. "And they're homeless. They have nowhere else to go."

"Then take 'em to Social Services!" Athena suggests, crossing her arms over her chest.

Both Fiona and Sasha look away at that, and Athena inwardly cringes. Right. Mental note; never mention Social Services in mixed company. "They'll be separated..." Rhys adds, after a moment of awkward silence. "We can't just leave 'em here in the city. Who knows what'll happen to 'em!?"

Athena sighs. Loudly. God, she hates it when these kids start using the Guilt card on her. It's not like she has a soft spot or anything- Springs is a goddamned liar and is not a credible source of information- but she's here to make sure these fuckers don't get into too much trouble. If she doesn't agree to this, then Fiona or Sasha could pull the 'You Don't Have To Be Here' card, and then that'd be it. Then they'd be driving around uselessly with two little kids on their hands. As much as Athena hates it, she knows that there's no way outta this one. She might not have a soft spot, but everyone else living in this van sure as fuck does, and it shows in the way that Fiona has her arms wrapped securely around Gortys, like she's afraid Athena might try and take her away forcefully from her. Rhys mirrors Fiona, doing the same with Loader-Bot on his lap, wrapped up in a small blanket.

"They're your responsibilities," Athena states, after a moment of contemplation. "If the cops come looking for 'em, I'm not taking the fall for any of this."

Rhys and Fiona practically grin, and Athena can't hide the small smirk on her face at the sight, especially when she notices that Gortys has begun clutching Fiona instead of her stuffed bear. Yep. Athena is absolutely fucked. Felix had better pay her double for this bullshit.

A/N: It's a little sloppy, but I had no other ideas on how to add in Gortys and Loader Bot (Well, I originally wanted them to be a cat and a dog respectively, but my sister Juju got attached to the idea of them being little kids). Please R&R!

EXTRA: I AM SO SORRY I ACCIDENTALLY UPLOADED MY PARENTING ESSAY BEFOREHAND OMG!

~CabooseHeart.