Title: Answers
Summary: After Dexter's disappearance, Astor Bennett turns up on Lumen Pierce's doorstep with some important questions.
Rating: M for discussion of murder and allusions to rape.
Word Count: 1313
Other Chapters: No.
Disclaimer: Showtime owns Dexter and all rellated trademarks. I do not in any way profit from the use of these trademarks.
Pairings: Dexter Morgan/Hannah McKay (mentioned); Dexter Morgan/Lumen Pierce (mentioned); Dexter Morgan/Rita Bennett (mentioned)
Contains: spoilers for the series finale, and for pretty much everything else.
Warnings: references to murder, allusions to rape, allusions to child abuse.

"Do your grandparents know you're here?"

Astor shook her head.

Lumen looked from Astor to her own fidgeting baby girl, then back to Astor. She sighed. "Where do they think you are?"

"College tour with Olivia," Astor said.

"You two are still friends?" Lumen asked, smiling slightly.

"After everything we've been through? Of course we are."

"Olivia is at least in this state, right?"

"Yeah," Astor said. "She's waiting for me back at the hotel."

Lumen raised her eyebrows. "To call the cops and tell them where you went if you're not back in a few hours?"

"No," Astor said quickly. "Because..." She worried her lower lip between her teeth, "Because I didn't know what you'd tell me and I didn't want to freak out in front of her, or..." Astor shifted slightly. "I don't know. I'll probably tell her. But I wanted to hear it first."

"Oh," Lumen said.

"Why?" Astor asked. "Should I be worried about not returning?"

"No," Lumen said quickly. "God no. I would never..."

"Good," Astor said. She stared at her shoes for a moment. "But I'm right, aren't I? About what you and Dexter did?"

"I don't know," Lumen said, sitting down and clutching her baby to her chest. "What do you think Dexter and I did?" Honestly, she'd never expected to see Dexter Morgan or anyone connected to him ever again. She'd heard all about him on the news—He'd dated Hannah McKay then he'd turned Hannah McKay in for attempted murder then he'd fled the country with Hannah McKay—and she hadn't really known what to think of it and hadn't had anyone to sort her feelings out with. If Hannah McKay was the cold-blooded killer that the media made her out to be, it wasn't like Dexter to flee the country with her. Maybe he had a good reason. Maybe... She didn't want to think that his darkness had just gotten too strong for him.

She'd spent a few long months terrified that Dexter was going to turn up on her doorstep wanting help. She'd help him. That was the terrifying thing. She had a husband and a child and a stable life and she still felt in no small way that she owed all of that to him, and if he turned up on her doorstep and said that he needed her, she'd help him without a second thought.

He hadn't shown up, though. His daughter had. Now Lumen was sitting here in broad daylight in her own living room, about to discuss murder in front of her daughter with a teenage girl who'd been a drunken twelve-year-old the last time Lumen saw her. Lumen still didn't have it in her to turn Astor away, though.

Astor looked up, into Lumen's eyes. "My brother and I have been putting things together, since Hannah McKay. Little things that we didn't think much of when we were younger but now..." She bit down on her lip again. "I don't want to ask you to say anything that could get you into trouble..." Astor said. She looked down at Lumen's daughter and smiled. "You seem so happy. I just want to know..." She took a deep breath, and her eyes locked with Lumen's. "Do you think my—Do you think Dexter ever killed anyone?"

"Yes," Lumen said, quietly and calmly, holding Astor's eyes and knowing that Astor understood. "I think Dexter probably killed some people."

For a second, Astor didn't react. Then she laughed.

"Astor—" Lumen said, but Astor stood up.

"Thank you," she said. "I'm glad we had this talk."

"Astor," Lumen repeated, and that at least got Astor to freeze, even if it did make Lumen's daughter fuss slightly. "Sit down. Let me explain."

"What's there to explain?" Astor said, flopping back down on Lumen's sofa.

Lumen hushed her child and rocked her until she was quiet, and then she looked up at Astor.

What was there to explain? Jesus, they'd killed people. And yet, here Lumen was. If she went to Hell for murdering those bastards, so be it, but she didn't regret doing it. She didn't think it made her a bad person. She didn't think Dexter was a bad person, either. Lumen had looked into the eyes of evil, more than once. She'd watched the light leave the eyes of evil, more than once. Those eyes looked nothing like Dexter Morgan's eyes.

"Have you ever heard of the Bay Harbor Butcher?"

Astor's jaw dropped. "Dexter was the—"

"I'm just asking if you've heard of him," Lumen said.

"Everyone's heard of him," Astor said. "Everyone in my school went to see the movie. So?"

"So, what do you think?" Lumen sighed. "Do some people deserve to die?"

"Not my mother," Astor said immediately.

"No," Lumen said, shacking her head. "And Dexter didn't hurt her. He never would. And he'd never hurt you."

"How do you know?"

"Do you actually think he would?" Lumen asked.

Astor crumbled. She leaned back and looked away, and for a second Lumen wasn't sure if Dexter hadn't hurt her at some point.

"No," Astor whispered. "Not really. But he wasn't even sad when mom died..."

"He didn't... deal with his emotions very well," Lumen said.

Astor looked back at her.

"He kept a lot inside... I think you're starting to understand that..."

"Two dead parents, a half-brother who's presumed dead, and a step-father who's presumed dead and is wanted for murder if he's not dead..." Astor said dully. "I'm getting pretty good at keeping things inside myself."

"He would never have hurt you," Lumen repeated.

Suddenly, Astor's brow creased. She looked up at Lumen with an odd look on her face. "Did he hurt Barry?"

"I think he might have," Lumen said, which was now their accepted code for 'yes.'

Astor smirked. "Olivia will be glad to hear that."

"He did it to protect you," Lumen said.

Astor nodded. "You think that some people deserve to die?"

Lumen nodded. "I've known a few."

They sat their in silence for a few minutes, awkwardly trying to figure out what to say to each other, and then Astor stood up again, much more slowly than before. "Thank you," she said again, sincerely this time. "I... I really am... Thank you."

Lumen wanted to say 'no problem' but that felt too casual. She finally settled on "You deserve closure over this."

Astor nodded. "I guess, if that's possible." Lumen raised her eyebrows, and Astor flashed her a smile. "This was a good place to start, though."

"I have to ask, though," Lumen said, standing up and walking her toward the door. "How did you find me?"

Astor smiled slightly. "You didn't change your name when you got married. There aren't many Lumen Pierces in Minneapolis. I just googled you."

"How did you know I'd be able to tell you what you wanted to know?"

"I didn't," Astor said, smiling sadly.. "You were the only lead I had, though."

Lumen smiled. Lead. She talked like a Morgan. Lumen wasn't sure Astor would appreciate that, at the moment, though. She needed time to process things.

Astor looked at the baby in Lumen's arms and smiled. "Hi, sweetie," she said in a high pitched voice. "Aren't you cute?"

Lumen's daughter cooed.

"What's her name?" Astor asked.

"Felicity," Lumen said.

Astor smiled. It would all hit her later, and there was no knowing how she'd react then, but for now, she smiled, in a forced sort of way. "I'm really glad that things worked out for you," she said. "I don't want to put you in danger, so I won't contact you again."

Lumen smiled sadly. "Thank you," she said.