Pushing Fate

Setting: Directly in the middle of 'Dim Sum Lose Some' in the PD-verse; set maybe a year after the end of Wonderfalls.

Summary: Jaye never had a brother to look out for her. Ned never had a sister to support him. But when Chuck and Olive set out to reunite the long-lost siblings, they'll discover they have more than a parent in common.

"Pie delivery!" Chuck said, pushing the doorbell.

"Surprise random pie delivery!" Olive chimed in.

A voice called back from the interior of the house. "Just a minute."

Chuck squared her shoulders, taking a deep breath. "This is a good idea." She looked at Olive to reassure herself. "Right?"

Olive nodded, giving her an encouraging grin and clutching her purse. "Sounded like a good idea when you described it to me."

"Yeah, imagine if we'd have dragged Ned here and we find out that his dad's still an emotional disaster?" Her smile thinned as she pictured the devastation on her boyfriend's face. At least she could take that bullet for her sensitive pie maker.

"And it turns out he's older and crankier and drinks six dollar bottles of sour mash? Oh, Ned would have a trump card of an I-told-ya-so." Olive finished, illustrating the pie maker's would-be panic with a distressed hand wiggle.

The nervous reply on Chuck's tongue was interrupted by the interior door swinging open - only to reveal a brunette in her mid-twenties. She would have been pretty, were it not for the bitter glance she was shooting over her shoulder. "I didn't know bakeries delivered. Sharon, did you order a pie?"

"Did I order a what?" A woman in a bright red pantsuit came up behind the brunette, fastening a sparkling earring in place. She was older, her light blonde hair teased into stiff waves. Sharon squinted at the box in Chuck's hands. "If I wanted pie, I'd have asked Yvette."

Chuck's smile thinned. "Sorry, we're actually looking for an older man that lives here? He won a pie in a raffle. We have a raffle every week. It's very exciting."

Sharon bristled. "The only older man is our dad-"

"Step-dad." The brunette interrupted automatically.

"-Darrin Tyler. You said there was a raffle?"

"No, not him. The man we're looking for would have lived here maybe twenty years ago?" Chuck said.

The blonde raised thin eyebrows and laughed incredulously. "A man who lived here twenty years ago who is not our father-"

"Step-father," The brunette added.

"-won a pie in your raffle?" The blonde finished, ignoring the comments of her (step-?) sister and placing a hand on her hip. "You're going to have to try a little harder to slip that past a lawyer, honey."

Olive pursed her lips. A beat. She leaned in discreetly. "Still living with your parents, then?"

"Not helping!" Chuck hissed.

"I'll have you know I'm house-sitting!" The brunette retorted, crossing her arms over her chest. "I have my very own trailer, thanks."

"Not that you have to defend yourself to these people, but your mobile home does not provide an effective defense." The blonde said, glancing down at the Pie Holers with disapproval.

"So, maybe this was less of a good idea." Olive muttered under her breath.

Chuck's face fell, her shoulders slumping. "Look, keep the pie - we're just trying to get some information. My boyfriend's dad abandoned him twenty years ago we're trying to find out what happened to him. At some point, his dad living here. Do either of you have any information on the previous tenant? A forwarding address maybe?"

A tense moment passed. The brunette's gaze darted over her shoulder, her skin paling.

"Jaye?" Sharon said in a quieter voice, placing a hand awkwardly on her sister's shoulder.

The brunette, Jaye, took a deep breath. "I think you might be talking about my birth dad."

Chuck straightened up, her eyes wide.

Olive squinted. "Did you say 'Dad'?"

"Yeah. He hasn't lived here in a few years. He kinda disappeared, then my mom married Sharon's dad and kept the house." Jaye explained, stuffing her hands in her pockets. "I mean, that sounds like his MO."

It was that moment that Chuck and Olive realized -

"You have the same eyes as him." Chuck breathed, smiling softly.

notes.

Other things I posted to tumblr during exams. Friendly reminder that these recent fics come with picsets, if you're interested.

Don't write the story. Live the story.