The Dragon Fly
A Team Fortress 2 fan fiction
Summary: It was best when Daddy came home. Inspired by Racoon-sama.
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Ethan never really fit in with the other kids his age. It wasn't that he didn't try, it was just that they never really got along all that well. The other kids would go on about sports and superheroes and dragons and stuff, while he liked to figure out how things worked and why. He liked sports and superheroes and dragons, but they just weren't as interesting as dismantling the toaster. Mummy didn't like it when he'd done that, but she'd been happy when he'd put it all back together and it worked like it was supposed to.
"You really are your father's son."
She'd ruffled his hair and gave him a cookie. M&M, his favorite.
Mummy always liked it when he made something new, whether it was a little doo-dah thing that really didn't do much or one of his projects trying to improve on the things lying around the house. She made sure to take him down to the scrap yard every few weeks, just so he could dig up a few odds and ends to use for parts. The caretaker was a really nice old guy that smelled like oil and sawdust and sometimes had a lollipop for him.
Everyone was really nice, and he knew for a fact that he had it pretty good.
But it was best when Daddy came home.
It didn't happen all that often, but whenever they got the call that his Daddy would be on the next train into town, everybody got big smiles and would get all happy and excited. He liked it when everybody smiled, especially his Mummy. She looked pretty when she smiled.
When Daddy came home, it was like nothing could ever go wrong. He'd come off that early morning train in his big brown overalls and his yellow hat and Mummy would get tears in her eyes, but she never stopped smiling. Ethan would always get antsy and run to greet his Daddy, even though Mummy always told him to wait, and Daddy would just smile and catch him and Ethan would hug Daddy as tight as he could, just so his Daddy would know how much he was missed.
Each time Daddy came home, it would start off the exact same way. They'd get Daddy home, he'd take a really long shower and then he'd sleep for the rest of the day. Mummy said this was cause his job was really stressful and he didn't usually get to sleep very well, so he caught up when he got home. Ethan always made sure to get all his doo-dahs and projects together while Daddy was asleep, so he could show him what he'd been working on while Daddy'd was away, and he would follow Mummy into the bedroom when she put together a meal on a tray for Daddy's breakfast. Then, while Daddy ate, Ethan would show off all his little creations, sitting on the bed next to him and showing him what they could do. Sometimes, Daddy would have an idea on how to make them better, and then Ethan would run off to his room for the toolbox Daddy had made him for Christmas so Daddy could tinker.
No one was ever sad when Daddy was home. The whole town threw a party whenever he came back, all 500 people crammed into the high school auditorium to celebrate his Daddy coming home. Sometimes the party was the day after he arrived, sometimes it was just before he left, but they always made sure to have a party for him. Ethan loved those parties. The other kids would actually play with him then, and they wouldn't complain when he started talking about his projects. They always thought it was cool that he could build things like his Daddy did.
Daddy wasn't usually home very long. Usually a week or two, though sometimes he'd get a whole month off. One year, he'd been able to stay for a two months. That was Ethan's favorite year, cause he'd been able to celebrate three different holidays with his Daddy, including his birthday. It wasn't often that his Daddy got to stay for the holidays or his birthday, but it was always fun when he did. One Halloween, Daddy had helped him build his costume, a robot like the ones on TV that could turn into cars. Ethan still had the costume in the back of his closet, even though he'd long since grown out of it. It was too precious to get rid of.
He liked how his Daddy liked to build things, just like him. They'd spend hours off in the backyard shed, tinkering away with all the bits and bobbles Ethan had collected. Some of Ethan's favorite toys had come from these tinkering sessions, the best of which being a little green remote control dragon that could actually fly. He'd named it Chester, after the scrap yard caretaker who'd provided most of the parts with a broken down lawnmower motor.
He remembered going to the park to test it, going to the top of the biggest hill in the whole place when the weather was just right. Daddy had shown him how the controls worked, even though they'd gone over them back in the shed, and then lifted him up onto his shoulders. Chester had flown beautifully, zooming through the warm afternoon air on a jet of bright orange flame. It was his favorite memory of his Daddy, being perched up on his big strong shoulders and leaning on that bright yellow hard hat, watching the dragon fly.
They ended up walking home just as the sun was setting, sharing a root beer from the general store, Chester in his Daddy's big hip pouch. Mummy was waiting on the porch when they got home, and he remembered how her face got bright the moment she saw them coming down the street. She'd been worried about them, cause it had gotten so late and they'd only meant to go out for a couple hours. Daddy had apologized, and Mummy had just smiled. He liked it when his Mummy smiled.
Sometimes, Daddy would have nightmares. Most of the time, Mummy could make them go away and Daddy would be fine, but sometimes, he'd wake up screaming in the middle of the night. It wasn't often, but it happened. He would usually yell about someone named Spy or Medic, but every once in a while, he would just scream. Scream and scream and scream until his voice gave out. When that happened, Ethan made sure to come running, cause Mummy would get hit if she tried to calm him down. For some reason, only Ethan could get through when his Daddy screamed, but it was okay. Ethan knew his Daddy never meant to hurt anyone, he was just scared.
He'd asked once, about the nightmares. Daddy had gotten very quiet, and stopped smiling for a long, long moment before answering.
"Bad memories, son. Bad memories you don't need to know about."
Ethan had given his Daddy a big hug after that, and never asked again. If Daddy didn't want to tell, that was alright with him.
Daddy really didn't like to talk about his work, he'd said once that he preferred to "keep mah mind at home", but every once in a while, he'd tell stories about the men he worked with. Funny things, mostly; pranks Scout had pulled, Heavy's love of sandwiches, Pyro trying and failing to cook, once even a joke Demoman had told about sheep. It was fun to hear about all the different people his Daddy worked with. Mummy called them "good" people, cause they kept his Daddy safe. Ethan once asked what Daddy needed to kept safe from, but Mummy never answered.
He found out the hard way.
Daddy had called ahead like he always did before coming home, and everyone in town was buzzing, getting ready for the welcome home party, when Mummy got a letter. It was hand delivered by a stern looking older lady in a big black car he'd never seen before, and Mummy had gone very pale when she'd been handed the thick white envelope. Mummy had stared at the letter until the lady left, and was real quiet when she went into the house. He knew something was wrong, he just didn't know what. Then, Mummy opened the envelop and Daddy's goggles fell out on the floor.
The strap was broken, and the glass in one side was cracked. Ethan remembered picking them up off the carpet, and looking up to see Mummy reading the letter. She was crying.
"Mummy? What's wrong?"
Red-rimmed eyes, so sad. He hated it when Mummy was sad. It meant something had hurt her, and nobody hurt his Mummy.
"Mummy?"
She folded up the letter with shaking hands, and knelt down beside him on the carpet, curled her arms around him, held him close and just cried, real quiet-like. She cried for a long, long time, and he let her hold him, even though she squeezed him kinda hard, cause she looked like she needed a hug. It took her a long time to finally stop crying, even longer to let him go.
Her face was all red and splotchy, her make-up streaked and messy. But her eyes were what told him. Dull and glassy and so very sad, gone hollow.
"Y-You're Daddy ain't comin' home, baby."
"Why?"
Mummy sniffled, and he reached over and got her a tissue from the box next to the telephone. He patted her face dry, cause she didn't want to let him go, and she smiled a little because of it, but it never reached her eyes like a real smile did.
"A bad, bad man pretended t'be one o' your Daddy's friends an' hurt him. He hurt him real bad, baby."
She hugged him close, and he let her, knowing she needed the comfort.
"They tried t'fix him, they did their best, but-"
He could see the tears filling up her eyes, and he knew.
"Daddy didn't make it, did he."
Mummy started crying again. He let her.
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Artist's Comments:
It really wasn't supposed to be this sad, honest. It just ran away from me and turned that way. Anyway, this was inspired by an image under the same name drawn by Racoon-sama of DeviantArt. Go check it out, it's beyond adorable.